Feasibility and efficacy of a real-time smoking intervention using wearable technology

Wearable technology can use gesture detection to identify smoking behavior and provide real-time feedback. Receiving notifications when smoking occurs may help increase awareness of smoking behavior to help promote change. The current study sought to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of using a smartband for real-time smoking feedback as an adjunct to standard tobacco treatment in an outpatient hospital setting. We enrolled 38 adults (age M = 57.4, SD = 8.5, 63% female, race/ethnicity: 16% Hispanic, 68% White, 24% Black, 5% Multiracial) who smoked cigarettes daily (M = 17.2, SD = 10.9 cigarettes per day). All received standard tobacco treatment and participants were randomized to a control group (n = 20) or experimental group (receiving real-time smoking notifications from a smartband, n = 18) for 8 weeks. Participants wore the smartband on average for 45.6 (SD = 17.0) days out of the 56 days of treatment and 83.3% said they would recommend the smartband to others to help them quit smoking, indicating high adherence and satisfaction. Measures of smoking behavior favored the experimental group, although differences were not statistically significant. Rates of biochemically confirmed 7-day point-prevalence abstinence were 11% and 5% for the experimental and control groups, respectively. Those in the experimental group reported more percent days smoke-free (M = 12.4%, SD = 27.2% vs. control M = 6.9%, SD = 14.6%, cohen's d = .26) and had larger reductions in cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) (mean change in CPD = 10.2, SD = 12.2 vs. control mean change in CPD = 7.7, SD = 6.5, cohen's d = .26) during treatment. Findings support the feasibility of using smartband technology for smoking monitoring with adults from an outpatient hospital setting and show promise for improving cessation outcomes above and beyond standard tobacco treatment. Additional large-scale clinical trials are needed.