Smoking cessation remains a challenge, particularly for young adults with high dependence. This review examines the potential of combining the QuitSTART app, a free smartphone application offering tailored support, with an educational session on the health risks of smoking. This review focuses on young adults aged 21-30 within six weeks. Existing literature suggests both text messaging interventions and mobile apps can be effective for smoking cessation. However, limited research explores the combined effectiveness of QuitSTART with educational resources specifically for this demographic within a short-term timeframe.This paper will tackle the idea of the effectiveness of the approach by examining the ability of the strategy to boost the smoking cessation rate among young adult high-dependence smokers for six weeks.
Literature Review
Gowarty et al. (2021) have determined the users’ experience of the two smoking-cessation smartphone apps, QuitSTART and QuitGuide, among young adults (18-35 years old) who were diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI). This blended research aimed to evaluate the usability and perceived usefulness using interviews and task completion times. Both apps were found to be user-friendly and well-received by participants. QuitSTART’s features were viewed favourably, particularly personalized tips, motivational messages, and progress tracking. However, the study did not directly evaluate quit rates. This research suggests QuitSTART might be a suitable tool for young adults with SMI considering smoking cessation, but its effectiveness in promoting actual quitting requires further investigation.
Prutzman et al. (2021) explored how the National Cancer Institute’s Smokefree.gov initiative utilizes digital technologies to support smoking cessation. While not solely focused on the QuitSTART app, the study examined user engagement with various Smokefree.gov resources, including the app. Findings showed high user engagement with QuitSTART, with an average of 11 logins per user within the first 30 days. The claim quit rate of the participants at 30 days was encouraging, as high as 24.3%. The research did not have a control group or a long-term follow-up, which limited the study’s ability to provide conclusive results on whether QuitSTART is a long-term solution, especially among youth with high tobacco dependence only within a six-month study period.
Chen et al. (2024) studied a person’s perspective on the QuitSTART app, which does not directly benefit the smoking cessation effect. The purpose was to determine how the app is perceived from the users’ point of view in terms of usability and also the extent to which it helps in quitting smoking. Despite the study by Chen et al. (2024) on the usability of the QuitSTART app, it needs to provide a direct assessment of the app’s success in getting them to quit cigarette smoking. Their goal was to find out how users perceive the application quickly and how that can affect the quitting process. In the same way, the good or bad user experience could explain why people quit. When users go through QuitSTART and discover it is convenient and easy to use, they will likely return and take advantage of more of its features. This might be a good thing because it may help them to be persistent in their smoking cessation process. Similarly, this study does not establish causality between QuitSTART’s performance and quitting success; nevertheless, this study gives an indication of user experience and quitting success.
The survey by Sawyer et al. (2022) examined the likely outcomes of m-Health for smoking cessation in individuals who have schizophrenia, and they did not look at the effectiveness of QuitSTART. Smartphone apps hold great potential to assist individuals from this group in smoking cessation and pose various challenges, which authors tried to examine in their work. The assessment, however, did not only depend on QuitStart, taking into account that cessation apps were acceptable and usable by people with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, the focus on elaborating approaches appropriate for this particular group, including potential opportunities in the context of QuitSTART, may be the reason for the effectiveness of smokers.
Similarly, the study by El-Toukhy et al. (2021) investigated the use of SmokeFree.gov’s digital platforms during COVID-19. However, the research did not directly assess QuitSTART’s effectiveness in promoting smoking cessation. They focused on analyzing user trends across the website and various interventions, including QuitSTART. The study found a temporary increase in new daily visitors to the SmokeFree.gov website and subscriptions to adult-focused cessation programs (including QuitSTART) in 2020 compared to 2019. However, this rise was followed by a decline in traffic, suggesting a potential surge in interest during the pandemic that needed to be sustained. Therefore, this research must show QuitSTART’s effectiveness in prompting smoking cessation. It highlights a potential rise in users seeking quit support during COVID-19, but further studies are required to isolate QuitSTART’s impact on quit rates.
Also, the research by Zhang et al. (2023) focused on user experience rather than app effectiveness. Their systematic review aimed to explore how smokers perceive the functionalities and characteristics of smoking cessation apps. While the review doesn’t directly assess QuitSTART’s effectiveness in promoting smoking cessation, it does highlight features crucial for user success. These features, identified by the smokers themselves, include functionalities like tracking progress, receiving reminders, and accessing educational content. The quitSTART app perfectly combines all of these capabilities, and, as such, it is tailor-made for users who want to quit smoking. Nevertheless, the review needs to indicate whether QuitSTART is responsible for improving the increase in quit rates.
Discussion
While research studies on text message interventions and mobile apps in promoting smoking cessation exist, their specific efficacy in helping young with heavy dependence who are at risk has yet to be discovered. In the literature review, many studies concentrated on users’ experiences and general trends, but there was reliably little needed to be more detailed on the actual quit rates attained via the app. For example, studies by Gowarty et al. (2021) and Zhang et al. (2023) were dedicated to determining young adults’ perceptions of the QuitSTART program, which has proven its attractiveness. Attributes that include the progress track and inspirational messages were seen well, thus hinting that the app could be likeable and enjoyable. While the studies don’t say anything about the relationship between user satisfaction and quitting, they only prove that user satisfaction is not the proof for quitting. A survey of the effectiveness of integrating QuitSTART with educational initiatives needs to be published, and this has to be researched, too.
Two studies by Prutzman et al. in 2021 and El-Toukhy et al. in 2021 brought some evidence to the table for how users might interact with QuitSTART. According to Prutzman et al., they had high self-reported quit rates at 30 days, which may indicate a successful approach. However, the fact that there was no control group and no long-term follow-ups reduces the generalizability of this work. It is an analogous case, where El-Toukhy and his associates found a surge in web traffic during the pandemic, suggesting the relevance of QuitSTART. Still, its effectiveness in assisting sustained cessation is separate.
The works of Chen and companions (2024) and of Sawyer and Troop, not testing QuitSTART but overviewing supplementary utilizing factors and ways of targeting aid, highlight how vital these two techniques could be for the program quality. Chen et al.’s idea of a correlation between usability and quitting success, jointly with Sawyer et al.’s claim that the efficiency of this app is contingent on tailoring the exact targeted population, such as those with schizophrenia, spotlights the areas in which QuitSTART should be investigated further.
Conclusion
In summary, although the study findings reveal that QuitSTART’s functionality and user experience may increase engagement and support for quitting, the lack of extensive research regarding the program’s effectiveness in promoting cessation over six months for young adults with high dependence remains. Future research is needed to have control groups and long-term follow-up so its effect on this subset of people can be more accurately assessed.
References
Chen, Z., Siegel, L. N., Prutzman, Y. M., & Wiseman, K. P. (2024). Characterizing perceived usability and its correlation with smoking cessation: An analysis of user assessments of the smoking cessation app quitSTART. Internet Interventions, 35, 100714.
El-Toukhy, S. (2021). Insights from the SmokeFree. Gov initiative regarding using smoking cessation digital platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional trends analysis study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(3), e24593.
Gowarty, M. A., Longacre, M. R., Vilardaga, R., Kung, N. J., Gaughan-Maher, A. E., & Brunette, M. F. (2021). Usability and acceptability of two smartphone apps for smoking cessation among young adults with serious mental illness: Mixed methods study. JMIR mental health, 8(7), e26873.
Prutzman, Y. M., Wiseman, K. P., Grady, M. A., Budenz, A., Grenen, E. G., Vercammen, L. K., … & Bloch, M. H. (2021). Using digital technologies to reach tobacco users who want to quit: evidence from the National Cancer Institute’s Smokefree. Gov initiative. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 60(3), S172-S184.
Sawyer, C., Hassan, L., Guinart, D., Agulleiro, L. M., & Firth, J. (2022). Smoking cessation apps for people with schizophrenia: How feasible are m-Health approaches? Behavioral Sciences, 12(8), 265.
Zhang, M., Wolters, M., O’Connor, S., Wang, Y., & Doi, L. (2023). Smokers’ user experience of smoking cessation apps: A systematic review. International journal of medical informatics, 105069.
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