Smoking Cessation, Mobile Health
Conditions
Brief summary
This study aims to explore the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of AI-powered chatbot support in community smokers.
Detailed description
Smoking cessation remains one of the most significant public health challenges worldwide, with tobacco use being a leading cause of preventable death and disease. Despite extensive efforts, the success rates of smoking cessation programs remain low, necessitating innovative approaches to support individuals in their journey to quit smoking. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new possibilities in healthcare, including the development of AI-powered chatbots that assist individuals in behavior change, such as quitting smoking. This randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the effectiveness of AI-powered chatbot that simulates human counselors, compared to traditional human counseling in promoting smoking cessation among community smokers. The AI-powered chatbot, equipped with personalized interactions and real-time support, offers scalable and cost-effective assistance, potentially making it an accessible alternative to human counseling. However, human counselors provide empathy, tailored advice, and a nuanced understanding of human behavior that AI may not fully replicate. This study will explore which approach is more effective in helping individuals achieve long-term smoking cessation.
Interventions
BEHAVIORAL5A's/5R's advice
5A's (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) for smokers who are ready to quit, and 5R's (relevance, risks, rewards, roadblocks, and repetition) for smokers who are not ready to quit.
The contents of the leaflet include the absolute risk of smoking, diseases caused by active and second-hand smoking, horrible pictorial warnings of the health consequences of active and second-hand smoking, and the benefits of quitting.
The contents include information about the benefits of quitting, methods to quit, how to handle withdrawal symptoms, misperceptions of quitting, etc.
BEHAVIORALAI-powered chatbot support
Participants will receive three months of AI-powered chatbot, equipped with personalized interactions and real-time support, via WeChat.
BEHAVIORALCounselor individual support
Participants will receive three months of counselor-led individual support via WeChat. The regular messages and instant messaging on psychosocial support aim to provide cessation advice, increase self-efficacy and confidence, and social support and behavioral capacity of quitting.
Sponsors
Beijing Normal University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. aged 18 and above, reside in Zhuhai for the next 6 months; 2. smoke at least 1 cigarette or use e-cigarettes daily; 3. Having a smartphone and a WeChat account, being able to use WeChat skillfully.
Exclusion criteria
1. Smokers who have communication barrier (either physically or cognitively); 2. Smokers who are currently participating in other SC programmes or services
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Biochemical validated quit rate at 6 months follow-up | 6 months follow-up | The primary outcomes are biochemically validated quit rate (exhaled carbon monoxide \< 4 ppm or salivary cotinine \< 30 ng/ml) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Self-reported 7-day point prevalence quit rate | 3 and 6 months follow-up | Self-reported 7-day point prevalence quit rate in the two groups |
| Smoking reduction rate | 3 and 6 months follow-up | Rate of smoking reduction by at least half of baseline amount in the two groups |
| Biochemical validated quit rate at 3 months follow-up | 3 months follow-up | biochemically validated quit rate (exhaled carbon monoxide \< 4 ppm or salivary cotinine \< 30 ng/ml) |
| Consent rate | baseline | the percentage of eligible smokers who agree to participate out of the total number of eligible smokers |
| Percentage of Participant Engagement with E-Messages and Counselor Chats | 3 months follow-up | This outcome measures the percentage of participants who engage with the intervention by reading e-messages and responding to counselor chat messages at least once during the 3-month follow-up period. |
| Eligibility rate | baseline | the percentage of eligible smokers out of the total number of smokers screened |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactXue Weng
Outcome results
None listed