The primary goal of the study by Guo et al. (2023) was to evaluate the effectiveness of a mHealth (mHealth) intervention in promoting smoking cessation among people. The hypothesis was that the group that received the mHealth intervention would show higher rates of smoking cessation success than the control group that did not (Guo et al., 2023). The research was conducted in a community-based environment, encompassing locations such as community centers or clinics where participants were recruited.
Seven hundred eleven smokers completed the initial eligibility screening (Guo et al., 2023). Of these, 664 participants who met the inclusion criteria were individually randomized to either the intervention or control groups. The majority of participants were male (74.4%), aged 18 to 39 (63.9%), single (54.7%), employed (86.4%), and with at least a high school education (99.4% ) (Guo et al., 2023).
Guo et al. (2023) used a randomized controlled trial design with an intervention or control group in which participants were randomly assigned to one. The first group received a mHealth intervention, while the second group did not receive any specific intervention (Guo et al., 2023). The results showed retention rates at 3, 6, and 12 months were 69.9%, 67.2%, and 73.2%, with no significant differences between the two groups (Guo et al., 2023). The mHealth intervention did not result in a statistically significant increase in biochemically verified abstinence at 6 months (3.9% vs. 3.0%) and 12 months (5.4% vs. 4.5%) compared with controls (Guo et al., 2023).
Similarly, at 6 and 12 months, there was a non-significant increase in self-reported 7-day abstinence rates and use of cessation services. The authors note that the intervention group had significantly higher quit attempt rates than the control group. Thus, based on the study’s results, the mHealth intervention did not show a statistically significant effect on smoking cessation rates compared to the control group. However, no adverse effects on participants’ quality of life were reported during the follow-up period.
Reference
Guo, N., Luk, T. T., Wu, Y., Guo, Z., Chu, J. C., Cheung, Y. T., Chan, C. H., Kwok, T. T., Wong, V. Y., Wong, C. K., Lee, J. J., Kwok, Y. K., Viswanath, K., Lam, T. H., & Wang, M. (2023). Effect of mobile interventions with nicotine replacementtherapy sampling on long-term smoking cessation incommunity smokers: A pragmatic randomized clinical trial. Tobacco Induced Diseases, 21, 1–13. Web.