Wearable physiological signals and relapse status during smoking cessation: a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Physiological monitoring
• Biomedical engineering
• Behavioral science

Background:

• Traditional smoking cessation assessments may miss key physiological changes.
• Wearable technology offers continuous monitoring capabilities for physiological data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the utility of wearable sensors in monitoring physiological changes during smoking cessation.
• To compare physiological and wearable data between individuals who relapse and those who maintain cessation.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-eight smokers were monitored for 10 days, tracking sleep duration, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV).
• Participants were categorized into relapse (n=15) and maintained cessation (n=13) groups based on cotinine-confirmed tobacco use.
• Physiological, clinical, and wearable index measures were compared between the groups.

Main Results:

• Individuals who relapsed to tobacco use exhibited significantly shorter sleep duration, higher resting heart rate, and lower HRV compared to those who maintained cessation (all p<0.05).
• A higher wearable index was observed in the relapse group (p=0.016, g=0.97).

Conclusions:

• Wearable sensor data may provide valuable insights into physiological changes associated with smoking cessation.
• Wearable measures can potentially supplement traditional clinical and self-report assessments for monitoring smoking cessation progress.