Following the “WeChat WeQuit” program of the WeChat app, which is very popular in China, would be very effective in quitting smoking.
- The WeChat WeQuit program of the WeChat application has been tested by researchers.
- People who have taken it have had good success rates in quitting smoking.
- This program could be a solution offered to people who wish to quit smoking.
According to national tobacco control plan, in France, two thirds of the 13.5 million daily smokers would like to quit smoking. To achieve this, some opt for their own will, others for nicotine substitutes, sessions with the hypnotist, one or more interviews with a tobacco specialist, etc.
A quit smoking program from WeChat app
Researchers have proven the effectiveness of another method, which can be adopted alone or in addition to the solutions: the program WeChat WeQuit, the very popular mobile text and voice messaging application in China WeChat (there are about 300 million smokers in China). Their work has been published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.
This program is based on cognitive behavioral theory mechanisms and contains two different sections. The first consists of “preparing to quit”: motivations, identification of smoking habits, sources of support, teaching relaxation techniques, etc. The second part “quitting smoking and preventing relapses” gives tips for coping with weight gain, difficult situations, stressors, etc.
Participants in this clinical trial were divided into two groups. In the first, they followed the program WeChat WeQuit and therefore received three to five messages in the first four weeks, then one to three messages until 12 weeks. At the same time, relaxation audios and images were available at all times in their subscriber account. The researchers note that 80% of the information was read by the participants. In the second group, the patients only received simple control messages. Finally, all participants were followed for 26 weeks after the quit date to verify that the quit was durable.
Higher success rate when quitting smoking
Result: Participants who completed the program “WeChat WeQuit” had a higher success rate than the other group for quitting smoking. Thus, after 26 weeks, i.e. around 6 months, the quitting rate varied from 24.28% to 34.33% in this group, whereas it was only between 6.13% and 9 .65% among participants who only received control messages.
Scientists believe that this program should be considered as one of the methods for quitting smoking.