Personalized messages of motivation, support and advice are just as effective as drugs to quit smoking.
Quitting smoking is as much psychological as it is physical. To overcome addiction, it is not always enough to overcome the lack of nicotine. Smokers who attempt to quit are well aware of this, and a study by the American Cancer Society, published in the journal Tobacco Control, indirectly confirms this impression.
Researchers analyzed the effectiveness of e-mail smoking cessation programs. Mobile phone applications are multiplying, and their potential effectiveness seems validated, if we are to believe the results of the American study.
34% effective
More than 1000 people planning to quit smoking were recruited, and divided into three groups. In the first, participants received, over the six months of the study, 27 personalized messages; in the second, 3 to 4 personalized emails containing weaning aid booklets, and in the last, only a non-personalized message. In all three groups, the messages contained links to cessation support resources.
And the results are amazing. The withdrawal rate for the three groups is 34%, 30.8% and 25.8% respectively. Interesting figures, which the study relates to the stop rate with the help of Champix. A study published in the JAMA in 2015 evaluated its effectiveness at 37.8% after six months. Figures comparable to the “premium” version of the email service.
Even if the effectiveness of Champix has sometimes been called into question, especially on long-term discontinuation, it was reintroduced into the list of reimbursements by Health Insurance, and its effectiveness against placebo was confirmed. This comparison therefore favors mobile applications and personalized remote assistance services.
Psychological support
“The personalization of emails and their frequency – initially daily, then increasingly spaced out – gives people the confidence that someone is looking after them and wants them to be successful,” says Dr Lee Westmaas, director. strategic research on smoking cessation at the American cancer society, in charge of this study. And this, even if the personalization comes from a simple computer algorithm.
He believes that this type of program could be particularly suited to certain populations where smokers are the most numerous, suffer the most from the consequences of tobacco on health, and who escape cessation programs. In particular, he wishes to launch a study on the effect of this strategy on smokers suffering from difficult socio-economic conditions.
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