Automated Motivational Text Messages Help Stop Smoking

A new UK study has found that smokers who participated in an smoking cessation program called “text2stop” which was delivered by automated mobile phone text messages achieved continuous abstinence at 6 months at twice the rate of a control group.

The study was conducted by Caroline Free PhD, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and her colleagues, and was published in the July 2, 2011 issue of The Lancet.

Study Methodology

In the study, 5,800 people, aged 16 or older, who were trying to quit smoking and who volunteered to participate, were randomly assigned to a txt2stop intervention group (2,915 participants) or a control group (2,885 participants).

Those in the intervention group received both standard and personalized text messages encouraging them to abstain from smoking. The “personalized” messages were automatically selected among messages focused toward particular interests and concerns checked off by participants in an opening questionnaire, as well as by demographics. Those in the control group received neutral text messages that did not directly encourage them to quit smoking.

All participants received five text messages per day for the first 5 weeks, and then three texts per week for the next 26 weeks.

Examples of the Text Messages

Participants in the txt2stop intervention group received standardized messages such as the following during the days before their self-selected quit date:

During the program, participants who in their opening questionnaire had indicated particular concern with gaining weight, might receive a standard “customized” message, such as:

And, after quit day, all participants received standardized messages such as:

If participants felt a craving, they could text “crave” and receive responsive texts to support and distract them, such as, for example:

Or, if they gave up and smoked, participants could text “lapse” and receive responsive texts reminding them of their progress up to that point and encouraging them to keep going. For example:

The control group, on the other hand simply received text messages such as:

Both groups were encouraged to participate in other smoking cessation support programs, including especially smoking cessation helplines provided by the British National Health Service. Approximately 50% of each group did so.

Findings

After six months, the researchers biochemically verified continuous abstinence by administering tested saliva samples for cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, to measure which participants had really quit smoking.

They found that 10.7% of the participants in the motivational text intervention group and 4.9% of those in the control group had quit smoking continuously at the 6 month point. Thus, more than twice as many had quit in the txt2stop intervention group as in the control group.

“Smoking cessation support delivered via mobile phone text messaging doubles quit rates at 6 months,” the authors wrote.

While the percentages of each group who quit appear quite low in both groups, the study report points out that such results are similar to results achieved from other direct one-on-one behavioral interventions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the study authors stated:

More Information

A full copy of the study report is available in the July 2, 2011 issue of The Lancet.

See also an editorial on the study published in the July 2, 2011 issue of The Lancet.

See generally, our resource pages on Wellness/ Healthy Living for Seniors and Caregivers

And Specifically, our page on: Sleep, Hygiene, Quit Smoking & Other Healthy Practices: Physical Wellness

_____________

Copyright © 2011 Care-Help LLC