Is quitting smoking one of your New Year’s resolutions? Breaking the habit can be tough, but what if there was something to nudge you just before you light up? Researchers have developed a new smartwatch app designed to make quitting smoking a little easier by reminding you when you are about to start a cigarette.
A research team at the University of Bristol, England, developed an app that could detect the typical hand movements of someone holding a cigarette and alert the smoker with a message discouraging them from smoking. According to the team, this is the first-ever just-in-time intervention for preventing smoking relapse that runs entirely on a smartwatch, without the need for pairing with a smartphone.
“For those who are trying to give up, an initial lapse is a vulnerable moment, and risks leading to a full relapse to smoking. People like smartwatches. They like the idea of it delivering a message at the point that they smoke. Therefore, if we can identify this point of lapse, and deliver an intervention precisely at that point, we have an opportunity to improve the success of the quit attempt,” Chris Stone, Senior Research Associate in Wearable Technology Application Development in Bristol’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, and Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Program (ICEP), explained the idea behind the innovation in a news release.
The researchers tested the effectiveness of the relapse prevention app on 18 people who were ready to quit smoking. During the trial, participants wore a regular Android smartwatch loaded with the custom app. At the end of two weeks, many reported that the smartwatch helped them become more aware of their smoking habits, and the constant reminders made them pause and reconsider their actions.
Impressively, 66% of participants found the smartwatch intervention not only feasible but also acceptable, making it a promising tool for supporting behavior change and preventing smoking relapses.
According to Alizée Froguel, Cancer Research UK’s Prevention Policy Manager, stopping smoking is the best thing you can do to prevent cancer. “This study shows that smartwatches could be a useful method to help people quit smoking, but more research is needed to understand how effective they are. There are many tools available to help people quit, and getting support from your free local stop smoking service will give you the best chance of stopping successfully,” Froguel said.
