Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Apr 17, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 17, 2023 - Jun 12, 2023
Date Accepted: Jul 25, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Mobile phone-based interventions for smoking cessation among young people: A systematic review and meta-analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mobile phone-based cessation interventions have emerged as a promising alternative for smoking cessation, while evidence of the efficacy of mobile phone-based smoking cessation programs among young people is mixed.
Objective:
This study aimed to determine the efficacy of mobile phone-based interventions compared to usual practice or assessment-only control on smoking cessation in young people (age≤30).
Methods:
In this systematic review and meta-analysis we searched Cochrane library, Embase, PubMed, Web of science on March 8, 2023. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the efficacy of mobile phone-based interventions on smoking cessation in young people (age ≤ 30). The risk of bias was assessed with Cochrane Risk of Bias 2. The study was registered with PROSPERO CRD42022318845.
Results:
A total of 13 eligible studies were included. Compared to inactive control (assessment-only, text messages unrelated to quitting, or self-help materials), text-messaging cessation interventions were effective on continuous abstinence for follow-up 1 month (RR 1.90, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.81), 3 months (RR 1.64, 95%CI 1.23 to 2.18) and 6 months (RR 1.35, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.76). For 7-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA), the meta-analysis showed similar and significant results at 1 month (RR 1.72, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.63) and 3 months follow-up (RR 2.54, 95% CI 2.05 to 3.14), but not significant at 6 months (RR 1.45, 95% CI 0.92 to 2.28). Pooling across 2 studies app-based interventions showed significant efficacy in promoting 7-day PPA at 1-month follow-up, as evidenced by an RR of 1.52 (95% CI 1.11 to 2.08). However, there was no clear evidence for 3 months (RR 1.38, 95%CI 0.75 to 2.53; k=2; I2 = 90.9%) and only 1 study for 6 months.
Conclusions:
Text messaging-based smoking cessation interventions compared to inactive control were associated with abstinence among young people and could be considered a viable option for smoking cessation in this population. More research on smoking cessation apps are needed, especially app targeting young people. Future research should focus on identifying the most effective mobile phone-based cessation approaches and on developing strategies to increase their uptake and intention.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.