Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Aug 14, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Aug 14, 2022 - Oct 9, 2022
Date Accepted: Feb 28, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Why was a personalized mobile cessation intervention more likely to promote smokers from the preparation stage to the action stage than a nonpersonalized intervention? A double-blind, randomized control trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Most mobile cessation studies found that such interventions have a higher quitting rate than interventions providing minimal smoking cessation support. However, why such interventions are effective has been almost unstudied by researchers.
Objective:
This paper describes the principles of the personalized mobile cessation intervention-based WeChat application and used generalized estimated equations (GEEs) to assess why such an intervention is effective
Methods:
This study was a two-arm, double-blind, randomized, positive control trial conducted in five cities in China. Participants were randomized to an intervention group or a control group. Intervention group participants received personalized text messages developed by this study. Control group participants received a nonpersonalized text message smoking cessation intervention. The primary outcome was the biochemically verified 6 month sustained abstinence rate. Secondary outcomes were the change in protection motivation theory construct scores All analyses were by intention to treat.
Results:
722 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group or control group. Biochemically verified continuous abstinence at 6 months was 6.9% in the intervention group and 3.0% in the control group. Our analysis suggested that smokers who received the personalized intervention presented lower intrinsic rewards and response costs. These two variables were also determinants of sustained abstinence, thus explaining why the intervention group had a higher quitting rate.
Conclusions:
This study reported clearly on the development of a mobile cessation intervention. GEE analysis confirmed the psychological determinants of long-term abstinence and provided a framework to explore why such an intervention is effective. This approach can be equally applicable to the development or analysis of interventions targeting other health behaviours. Clinical Trial: The clinical trial registration number is ChiCTR2100041942.
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Copyright
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