Text messaging (SMS) smoking cessation programs can reach a large amount of cigarette smokers and are effective in increasing quit rates, but their efficacy has not yet been explored in Vietnam.
100% enrolled participants retained over the intervention. Participants’ assessment of the SMS program was positive: 90% reported that the program was “very helpful” or “somewhat helpful”; 98% were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the program; 96% reported the program was easy to use and learned a lot from the program; 94% reported that the text messages motivated and helped them to quit. Biochemically verified abstinence was statistically higher in intervention group than the control group at 6 weeks (20.8% vs. 2.0%; p0.05). Mean number of cigarettes smoked per day reduced significantly: 15.4 cigarette and 14.3 times of waterpipe use among intervention group at baseline decreased to 5.8