Smartphone apps could help smokers kick the habit

Published: 6/3/2014

Struggling to quit smoking? There’s an app for that. And, the Smoking Cessation Clinic at Parkland Health & Hospital System is using this newly developed smartphone technology to help patients tackle tobacco addiction.

David Balis, MD, director of the Smoking Cessation Clinic, said a recently completed research study at the clinic used an app to gather detailed information about the process of quitting. Data from that study was used to develop a novel smoking cessation app that was launched this month.

The smoking treatment app was developed by Michael S. Businelle, a researcher with The University of Texas School of Public Health Dallas Regional Campus and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who is working with the Smoking Cessation Clinic. The app was programmed by e-Health Technology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the Parkland study is funded as part of a grant provided to Dr. Businelle by the American Cancer Society.

“Utilizing the app in the new study, we are going to see if we can have an impact on the behaviors of patients enrolled in the Smoking Cessation program at Parkland by sending them messages and interacting with them when they are about to smoke,” Dr. Balis said.

Dr. Balis said that the data gathered so far has provided information not only about the environmental risks that stimulate the impulse to smoke, such as proximity to cigarettes and drinking alcohol, but also emotional and psychological risks, such as cravings and depression.

Patients will respond to questions on the smartphone and the phone will automatically send tailored messages based on their answers to these questions. The app will provide messages such as tips to cope with stress, as well as how to avoid and cope with smoking triggers like alcohol consumption and exposure to smokers.

“Our hypothesis is that we can identify situations that are high risk for relapse in smokers and intervene even before the patients are aware of their heightened risk for smoking relapse,” Dr. Businelle said. The study will follow 75 people, starting one week before they quit smoking through three months after they stop. The app is not available to the public yet, but its developer said that if it is successful, it will likely be made available either for free or at low cost.

Smoking is the leading cause of death in the United States and use of technology such as smartphone apps comes at a time when interest in smoking cessation programs is increasing because of the Affordable Care Act. The law mandates that prescription and over-the-counter tobacco cessation medications be made available to all Medicaid patients in states that provide prescription drug plans to those enrolled in Medicaid.

“Not only is there hope that more people will be covered for these medications under Medicaid, but also that this will encourage all insurance providers to do the same,” Dr. Balis said.

For more information about the Smoking Cessation Clinic, call 214.590.5603. Back