Motivational text messages can help smokers quit their habit, British researchers said yesterday.
A trial in London found that sending positive messages via text was an effective way to method to support those wishing to quit smoking if used in conjunction with biochemical testing.
Dr Caroline Free, Clinical Trials Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK, who led the study, said the motivational communications were like having an “angel on their shoulder”.
"Text messages are a very convenient way for smokers to receive support to quit,” she explained.
“People described txt2stop as like having a ‘friend’ encouraging them or an ‘angel on their shoulder’. It helped people resist the temptation to smoke."
The trial randomly allocated 5,800 people who wanted to quit smoking to either the txt2stop intervention or to a control group that received only non-motivational texts.
A total of 2,915 people received texts that offered encouragement up to the actual quit day, advice on keeping weight off while quitting, and help dealing with craving. They included such positive messages as: “Cravings last less than 5 minutes on average. To help distract yourself, try sipping a drink slowly until the craving is over."
Those in the other group received bland messages that thanked them for their participation, requested confirmation of contact details, or issues not related to smoking.
The study, which is published in this week’s Lancet, found participants in the txt2stop group were more than twice as likely to quit and verify it biochemically it than those in the control group.
"On the basis of these results the txt2stop intervention should be considered as an addition to existing smoking cessation services,” writes Dr Free, who checked participants’ progress by testing their saliva for signs of smoking.
“The intervention is low cost and likely to be highly cost-effective.”
In a linked Comment, Dr Derrick Bennett and Dr Jonathan Emberso, of the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, University of Oxford, UK, said the trial offered a new approach that could be effective.
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