Study shows texting helps kick smoking

Texting, besides dominating communication in the 21st century, may be good for helping stop the habit of smoking.

An experiment at the University of Auckland in New Zealand revealed an easier way to quit smoking may be right at your fingertips.

 "It's tactile," said Tom Hall, director of education and training programs for UCF's Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Programming. "Smokers are used to doing things with their hands."

Telecommunication for quitting smoking has already been used in American programs for veterans in rural areas to make it easier for those who are disabled, said Iris Cruz, assistant director of clinical studies for UCF's Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention center.

She said more and more health care providers are now moving into automated services. 
Robyn Whittaker, a public health physician at the University of Auckland, was the lead writer of the Cochrane Collaboration, the published review of the research for mobile phone based interventions for the Stop Smoking by Mobile Phone program.

Four separate studies were done in New Zealand, where 20 percent of the population smokes, to examine how smokers responded to automated support by mobile phone. The programs included a control group that only received brochures and nicotine replacements, a group that received support from text messages only and a group that received support by text message and Internet activity and e-mails, Whittaker said in an e-mail interview.

The texting program was developed by Honorary Professor Anthony Rogers of the University of Auckland's Clinical Trials Research Unit. Whittaker said Rogers compared texting to "chewing gum for the fingers."

Results showed that both programs had solid short-term effects, roughly doubling short-term quit rates at four to six weeks after the quit attempt had started. However, only the mobile phone with the Internet program was able to produce long-term results. Further studies are underway, Whittaker said.

"It makes sense that mobile phones could offer an alternative option for some people who want to quit smoking," Whittaker said. "We know that quitting is hard, and most people try many times to quit, so offering a more effective option is a good idea."

Twenty percent of students at UCF smoke, based on a survey done in October, Hall said.

UCF uses programs like Quit Smart to help students who want to quit smoking pay attention to the emotional and psychological and physical needs of a smoker.     

"I just enjoy it," said Pascal Sacleux, a senior music major at UCF. "It's not a burden if I don't have a cigarette. If [texting] helps some people, that's great. You can just stop. It's not like alcoholism, you can't die from withdrawal."

Unfortunately, young people are not utilizing the resources or seeing the long-term effects at this stage in their life, Cruz said.     

"It's not affecting my health enough to quit. [Health] depends on more than smoking," Sacluex said. "I feel worse after a hamburger from McDonald's."