Do people Use Apps to help them to Quit Smoking?

Do people Use Apps to help them to

Quit Smoking?

Background

What is a Smartphone?

A smartphone is a mobile phone handset with advanced hardware and software capabilities that enable it to perform complex functions similar to those of laptop computers.

The smartphone functions as a mobile-phone handset (which is closest to the consumer and on hand when needed), makes the smartphone potentially the ideal health promotion and self-help program delivery vehicle.

In 2011, the number of mobile phone subscriptions reached 5.9 billion, nearly 2.5 times higher than total worldwide Internet subscriptions of 3.1 billion (of them, 1.2 billion use mobile-broadband).

The smartphones’ usage rate accounts for 67% of all mobile-phone handsets in Australia in 2011

In 2011, 33% of Australian smartphone owners have downloaded health-related apps in the last 12 months, an increase from 23% in 2010.

- In 2010, a study found that most of the smoking cessation apps available in the Apple app store do not follow the guidelines for smoking cessation.

- In 2012, we conducted a review of free smoking cessation apps in the Apple store and Android market and found that all 130 apps lacked the informational content about smoking which is necessary to help quit.

- Harmful pro-smoking apps have found their way to this emerging medium. In a recent paper we identified 107 pro-smoking apps 42 of these apps were from the Android Market and downloaded by average of 11 million users.

- Some apps have explicit images of cigarette brands, teaching users how to smoke in an interactive way, and some claim that they can help in quitting smoking.

Therefore, efforts are needed to bring evidence-based materials into this new media platform.

Study Objectives

Measure the uptake of a smoking cessation app over 1 year in Australia, the UK, and the US.

Describe the app users' characteristics (demographics, Smoking status, health-related apps use).

Understand Users interaction with the app functions.

Method

A free smartphone smoking cessation app has been developed and released in Apple and Android app stores in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Consumers of the Apple and Android app stores who search for smoking cessation apps in the three countries, can download the application. In addition, participants can share the app download link with others using embedded email & SMS functions.

Results

- Respondents who found difficulty to refraining from smoking in banned areas (in our sample) were more likely to try smoking cessation apps, p=.008, OR=3.67 (95%CI 1.41 – 9.58).

- Respondents who smoke more frequently during the first hours after wakening (in our sample) were more likely to try smoking cessation apps, p=.019, OR= 3.01 (95%CI 1.20 - 7.54).

- Respondents who looked at the five provided information categories at least once were more likely to be in the preparation stage than those who did not, at p=.015, OR=3.92 (95%CI 1.29 – 11.85).

Smoking Cessation Apps

Pro-smoking Apps

Inferential Analysis

Questionnaire Descriptive results

App Uptake

Design

38.3%

Participants

Summary

Thank You

Questions?