Gowarty M, Aschbrenner K, Brunette M. (2021). Acceptability and usability of mobile apps for smoking cessation among young adults with psychotic disorders and other serious mental illness. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 12: 592. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.656538
Researchers compared the usability and acceptability of two smoking cessation apps (QuitGuide and quitSTART) between young adult smokers (ages 18-35 years) with psychotic disorders (PD) (n = 7) and serious mental illness post-traumatic stress disorder (SMI-PTSD) (n = 10). Recruitment occurred through clinician referral and study flyers in clinic waiting rooms. Researchers randomized participants to receive QuitGuide (dark, text-heavy design) or quitSTART (colorful, swipeable cards) for 2 weeks. Both apps encouraged users to set a quit date, provided motivational cessation content, offered tracking of cravings and cigarettes smoked, and delivered tailored feedback. quitSTART also sent automatic check-in notifications that queried the number of cigarettes smoked since last check-in. At baseline and 2 weeks, participants completed objective usability testing (staff video-recorded participant smartphone screens and hand motions as they completed 9 tasks), followed by questionnaires and a semi-structured interview on app usability and acceptability. Researchers also collected back end app use data. Participants found QuitGuide and quitSTART usable and acceptable. Back end app use data revealed low engagement with QuitGuide and high engagement with quitSTART (e.g., app interactions, days of use, completed notifications) across both diagnosis groups over the intervention. In week 2, spontaneous engagement with quitSTART declined among participants with PD, while responses to app notifications remained stable. Future research could explore whether using push notifications would maintain engagement among young adults with PD. Similar rates of activation among both diagnosis groups (86% of PD participants and 70% of SMI-PTSD participants attempted to quit/reduce smoking) suggest that it may not be necessary to tailor smoking cessation app content for young adult smokers with PD.