Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death, disability, and disease burden in the United States and worldwide. Approximately 11.6% of adults in the United States are current smokers, and an estimated 70% of smokers want to quit. The earlier in the life course an individual stops smoking, the greater the health benefits are for both the individual and society as a whole.
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) states that effective smoking cessation treatments should offer counseling with social support and pharmacotherapy except where it is contraindicated (eg, pregnancy). There is a strong dose-response relationship between the intensity of smoking cessation counseling and its effectiveness, with counseling involving more sessions leading to higher quit rates.
Automated smoking cessation programs on mobile phones that use SMS text messaging have been found to be effective for smoking cessation and other health behaviors [-]. A recent meta-analysis of SMS text messaging programs for smoking cessation concluded that such programs double abstinence rates. SMS text messaging programs for smoking cessation have been used by millions of smokers trying to quit.
Read the full article in JMIR Formative Research.