Smartwatch Technology Aids Smokers in Their Quitting Journey
LONDON: Technology in smartwatches could help people quit smoking, according to researchers who have developed an app that intervenes when movements indicating cigarette use are detected.
The team at the UK’s University of Bristol created software that uses motion sensors on an Android smartwatch to identify the typical hand movements associated with smoking.
Once detected, the app delivers a vibration alert with a message designed by smokers and former smokers, offering encouragement about quitting on the smartwatch screen.
One message states, ‘Stopping smoking lets you breathe more easily. Quitting is good,’ while others track the number of cigarettes smoked and total drags taken that day.
Participants can swipe the message away or press a button for information about accessing the NHS smoking cessation support pages online.
Chris Stone, of the University of Bristol’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, explained, ‘For those who are trying to give up, an initial lapse is a vulnerable moment that can lead to a full relapse.’
Stone added, ‘If we can identify a lapse moment and deliver an intervention at that point, we have an opportunity to improve the success of the quit attempt.’
In a study published in JMIR Formative Research, the smartwatch app was tested on 18 individuals looking to quit smoking. Participants wore a Ticwatch loaded with the custom app for two weeks, from when they woke up until they went to bed.
At the end of the two-week period, 66% of participants found the smartwatch acceptable, while 61% deemed the messaging content relevant.
Positive feedback included increased awareness of smoking habits and motivation to reduce consumption. However, some users noted that repeated messages lost impact and that there could be more variety in messaging.
Alizee Froguel, prevention policy manager at Cancer Research UK, remarked, ‘Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer in the UK, and stopping completely is the best thing you can do for your health.’
‘This study shows that smartwatches could be a useful method to help people quit smoking, but more research is needed to understand their effectiveness.’
The researchers believe their app is the first just-in-time intervention for preventing smoking relapse that operates entirely on a smartwatch without needing a smartphone.
They recommend further long-term effectiveness trials, proposing a broader variety of messages in future designs to enhance user engagement.
This initiative is part of the Smoking Cessation theme of the Cancer Research UK-funded Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Programme (ICEP).
The study, ‘Presenting and evaluating a smartwatch-based intervention for smoking relapse (StopWatch): feasibility and acceptability study,’ was published by Chris Stone et al in JMIR Formative Research.
