Evaluations

• Development of a multi-behavioral mHealth app for women smokers

  Armin J, Johnson T, Hingle M, Giacobbi P, Gordon JS. Journal of Health Communication. 2017. 22: 153-162. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2016.1256454

  Summary: Researchers used web and print advertisements to recruit 15 women who smoked and were interested in quitting to provide feedback on See Me Smoke-Free at different stages of development. Researchers gathered feedback from 4, 1.5-hour long focus groups of 2-5 women, 1 individual interview, and surveys of app acceptability and usefulness. Women often participated in multiple focus groups. The first 2 focus groups reviewed prototypes of app content. Participants felt the scripts could be longer and could be enhanced with background music. Participants mentioned that the scripts should highlight the positive aspects and rewards of quitting and improving one’s health and make more concrete links between smoking cessation, diet, and exercise. The remaining focus groups and individual interview reviewed mock-ups of the app. All audio files achieved an acceptability score of at least 4/5. Participants liked the pink background design and tracking features (e.g., cost savings, cravings over time) and felt 1 motivational message per day for 3 months would be sufficient and acceptable for users. Finally, researchers sent a link to the app and 10 use cases to model different phases of the study to 6 women and asked them to complete 3 to 4 of the use cases. All participants rated app design, usefulness, and helpfulness at least 4 out of 5. All participants agreed the app was easy to use and that they would recommend it to a peer. Researchers were able to deploy See Me Smoke-Free on 84 phone models using 16 mobile carriers.

  Take Away: Researchers developed See Me Smoke-Free with feedback from women who smoked who were interested in quitting to ensure it would be usable, acceptable, and useful to the target audience.

• Development and evaluation of the See Me Smoke-Free multi-behavioral mHealth app for women smokers

  Gordon JS, Armin J, Hingle MD, et al. Translational Behavioral Medicine. 2017. 7: 172-184. doi: 10.1007/s13142-017-0463-7

  Summary: Researchers released See Me Smoke-Free on the Google Play Store and invited eligible users (i.e. English-speaking adult women in the United States who had smoked in the last 30 days) who downloaded the app to participate. Participants (n=151) were asked to use See Me Smoke-Free for 30 days. Participants rated cravings, smoking behavior, fruit and vegetable consumption, and physical activity daily. Participants completed assessments of tobacco use, nicotine dependence, readiness to quit, self-efficacy to quit, diet, exercise, height and weight, smoking for weight control, body image, and perceptions of guided imagery at baseline and 1- and 3-months post-enrollment. Participants rated usability of See Me Smoke-Free at 1-month follow-up. Researchers collected data from 73 participants. There were significant increases in rates of 7-day abstinence between baseline and both follow-up assessments and between 1- and 3-month assessments. Participants who continued smoking (n=32) significantly reduced average daily cigarette consumption between baseline (17 cigarettes), 1 month (12 cigarettes), and 3 months (11 cigarettes). Completion of audio imagery files was significantly, positively related to 7- and 30-day abstinence at 3 months. Participants reported significantly increasing fruit and water intake between baseline and 1 and 3 months follow-up. Researchers contacted participants who had not used See Me Smoke-Free for 14 days to assess reasons for non-participation. Researchers contacted 20 of the 78 participants who were dropped or withdrew from the study about their reasons for non-participation, who reported technical issues (30%), difficulty quitting (20%), and not currently wanting to quit (15%) as reasons for non-participation.

  Take away: Participants who consistently used See Me Smoke-Free for 30 days experienced significant reductions in smoking and improved rates of abstinence for up to 3 months.

• Related Articles

  See Me Smoke-Free: Protocol for a research study to develop and test the feasibility of an mHealth app for women to address smoking, diet and physical activity. Giacobbi P, Jr., Hingle M, Johnson T, Cunningham JK, Armin J, Gordon JS. JMIR Research Protocols. 2016. 5(1): e12. doi: 10.2196/resprot.5126

  Recruiting women to a mobile health smoking cessation trial: Low- and no-cost strategies. Abbate KJ, Hingle MD, Armin J, Giacobbi P, Jr., Gordon JS. JMIR Research Protocols. 2017. 6(11): e219. doi: 10.2196/resprot.7356

  User participation and engagement with the See Me Smoke-Free mHealth app: Prospective feasibility trial. Schmidt CA, Romine JK, Bell ML, Armin J, Gordon JS. JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 2017. 5(10): e142. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.7900