Implementation of a WeChat-Based Smoking Cessation Program for Chinese Smokers.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Smoking remains a significant public health issue in China despite declining prevalence.
• Social media platforms, particularly WeChat, offer potential avenues for smoking cessation interventions.
• Previous research has not explored WeChat's utility for smoking cessation in China.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a process evaluation of a novel WeChat-based smoking cessation intervention.
• To assess the intervention's efficacy in content delivery, participant satisfaction, engagement, and recommendation likelihood.
• To inform future digital health strategies for smoking cessation.

Main Methods:

• A three-week, three-arm, single-blind randomized control trial involving 403 participants.
• Utilized WeChat for participant recruitment, intervention message delivery, and process evaluation surveys.
• Assessed message receipt, satisfaction (Likert scale), engagement (Likert scale), and recommendation likelihood via weekly surveys.

Main Results:

• Participants demonstrated moderate message receipt, with higher rates for the first daily message and early in the week.
• High overall satisfaction scores (21.55-22.76 out of 25) and engagement (over 60% highly/somewhat engaged) were reported.
• Over 93% of participants were willing to recommend the program, indicating positive user reception.

Conclusions:

• A WeChat-based smoking cessation intervention is feasible and well-received by Chinese smokers.
• Optimizing message timing (early in the week, first daily message) and content format (video vs. picture) could enhance engagement.
• Social media platforms like WeChat hold promise for scalable smoking cessation efforts in China.