Sawyer C, Hassan L, Guinart D, Agulleiro LM, Firth J. Smoking Cessation Apps for People with Schizophrenia: How Feasible Are m-Health Approaches? Behav Sci (Basel). 2022, 12(8)doi:10.3390/bs12080265.
This narrative review poses the question of whether traditional digital smoking-prevention interventions are effective in individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). Even though half of all premature smoking-related deaths are individuals with SMI, these populations are frequently ignored when assessing a new digital intervention. Of the six apps that have been evaluated in SMI populations (Kick. it, Learn to Quit, QuitGuide, Quitpal, quitSTART, Stay Quit coach) only one, Learn to Quit, was developed for people with an SMI. Learn to Quit was reported as the most user friendly, but was not the only app that scored high in usability for patients with schizophrenia. Learn to Quit (System Usability Scale (SUS): > 80) also scored high for usability. Unfortunately, Quitpal, Quitstart, and QuitGuide scored poorly (< 70) when used by individuals with schizophrenia. Learn to Quit outperformed QuitGuide in two key areas. First, patients showed better point prevalence abstinence 30 days after starting app use, and fewer quit attempts and relapses using Learn to Quit. Other measures of smoking cessation were exclusively self-reported. Generally, this provides support for the use of digital health interventions for smoking in SMI populations. Future interventions specifically designed for SMI populations would be an excellent step in filling this critical gap.