Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Dec 4, 2023
Date Accepted: Feb 20, 2024
Assessing Quality and Behaviour Change Potential of Vaping Cessation Apps: A systematic search and assessment
ABSTRACT
Background:
An increasing number of people are using vapes (e-cigarettes), and with growing evidence of associated harms there is a need for acceptable cessation support and interventions. Smartphone applications (apps) for health and wellbeing have increased in popularity and use. Limited published literature exists that assesses the potential of apps to support vaping cessation.
Objective:
A systematic search of vaping cessation apps currently available for both iOS and Android platforms was conducted. Apps were assessed against established health-app assessment tools for quality and behaviour change potential.
Methods:
A systematic search through the Australian Apple iTunes and Google Play stores was conducted using the search terms of ‘vape’, ‘vaping’, ‘e-cigarette’ and ‘cessation’, ‘quit’ or ‘quitting’ in May 2023. Only apps that encouraged cessation of vaping were included. App descriptions were reviewed to determine if relevant for inclusion in this study, and relevant apps were downloaded onto the appropriate mobile device for review. The Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) was used to rate the quality (engagement, functionality, aesthetics and information) of the apps using an overall score out of 5. The App Behaviour Change Scale (ABACUS) was used to assess the behaviour change potential of each app using a score out of 21.
Results:
An initial search of the app stores yielded 220 Android apps and 124 iOS apps. Screening against the inclusion criteria left 20 iOS apps and 10 Android apps for review. Six apps were available on both operating systems, and these were downloaded, reviewed, and reported separately for each operating system. The average MARS score for all apps assessed in this review was 3.1 (SD 0.41) out of 5. The reviewed apps overall performed well for the MARS elements relating to functionality, such as ease of use and navigation, but had lowest scores for information-related elements, such as credibility. The number of ABACUS behaviour-change features per app ranged from 0 to 19 out of 21, with a mean of 8.9 (SD 4.51). The apps commonly included information-related features, such as requesting baseline information. The least common behaviour-change features were those relating to goal-setting, such as asking about the user’s willingness for behaviour change, and providing feedback on current actions in comparison to future goals.
Conclusions:
The identified vaping cessation apps had moderate levels of quality and some behaviour change components. Future vaping cessation apps could benefit from including more features that are known to support behaviour change, such as goal-setting, to improve the potential benefit of these apps to support people to stop vaping. As guidelines for vaping cessation continue to be established, it is important for future apps to reference these in their development.
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