Initial Assessment of a Comprehensive Digital Smoking Cessation Program That Incorporates a Mobile App, Breath...

Area of Science:

• Digital health interventions
• Behavioral science
• Public health

Background:

• Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of preventable death and disease.
• Existing evidence-based cessation treatments face challenges in access, engagement, and scalability.
• Pivot is a comprehensive digital smoking cessation program integrating a CO breath sensor, app, and human coaching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the initial performance of the Pivot program.
• Assess participant engagement and retention.
• Examine changes in attitudes toward quitting and smoking behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Recruited US adult smokers (≥5 cigarettes/day) online.
• Participants engaged with the Pivot program over 14.5-18.5 weeks, progressing through 5 stages.
• Collected data via app/online questionnaires on engagement, attitudes, quit attempts, cigarette reduction, and abstinence (7- and 30-day PPA).

Main Results:

• High engagement with a mean of 12.4 weeks of active participation.
• Significant increases in quit confidence and decreases in perceived difficulty maintaining a quit.
• Achieved 7-day PPA rates of 32.0% (ITT) and 30-day PPA rates of 27.6% (ITT), with comparable results for those initially not ready to quit.
• Quit attempt rate was 79.4% among completers.

Conclusions:

• Pivot demonstrates potential to overcome limitations in reach and scale for smoking cessation.
• The program shows effectiveness across diverse smoker populations, including those not initially ready to quit.
• Findings support Pivot's role in advancing public health efforts to reduce smoking prevalence.