This study aims to explore the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of AI-powered chatbot support in community smokers.
Smoking cessation remains one of the most significant public health challenges worldwide, with tobacco use being a leading cause of preventable death and disease. Despite extensive efforts, the success rates of smoking cessation programs remain low, necessitating innovative approaches to support individuals in their journey to quit smoking. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new possibilities in healthcare, including the development of AI-powered chatbots that assist individuals in behavior change, such as quitting smoking. This randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the effectiveness of AI-powered chatbot that simulates human counselors, compared to traditional human counseling in promoting smoking cessation among community smokers. The AI-powered chatbot, equipped with personalized interactions and real-time support, offers scalable and cost-effective assistance, potentially making it an accessible alternative to human counseling. However, human counselors provide empathy, tailored advice, and a nuanced understanding of human behavior that AI may not fully replicate. This study will explore which approach is more effective in helping individuals achieve long-term smoking cessation.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
300
5A's (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) for smokers who are ready to quit, and 5R's (relevance, risks, rewards, roadblocks, and repetition) for smokers who are not ready to quit.
The contents of the leaflet include the absolute risk of smoking, diseases caused by active and second-hand smoking, horrible pictorial warnings of the health consequences of active and second-hand smoking, and the benefits of quitting.
The contents include information about the benefits of quitting, methods to quit, how to handle withdrawal symptoms, misperceptions of quitting, etc.
Beijing Normal University
Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
Biochemical validated quit rate at 6 months follow-up
The primary outcomes are biochemically validated quit rate (exhaled carbon monoxide \< 4 ppm or salivary cotinine \< 30 ng/ml)
Time frame: 6 months follow-up
Biochemical validated quit rate at 3 months follow-up
biochemically validated quit rate (exhaled carbon monoxide \< 4 ppm or salivary cotinine \< 30 ng/ml)
Time frame: 3 months follow-up
Self-reported 7-day point prevalence quit rate
Self-reported 7-day point prevalence quit rate in the two groups
Time frame: 3 and 6 months follow-up
Smoking reduction rate
Rate of smoking reduction by at least half of baseline amount in the two groups
Time frame: 3 and 6 months follow-up
Eligibility rate
the percentage of eligible smokers out of the total number of smokers screened
Time frame: baseline
Consent rate
the percentage of eligible smokers who agree to participate out of the total number of eligible smokers
Time frame: baseline
Percentage of Participant Engagement with E-Messages and Counselor Chats
This outcome measures the percentage of participants who engage with the intervention by reading e-messages and responding to counselor chat messages at least once during the 3-month follow-up period.
Time frame: 3 months follow-up
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Participants will receive three months of AI-powered chatbot, equipped with personalized interactions and real-time support, via WeChat.
Participants will receive three months of counselor-led individual support via WeChat. The regular messages and instant messaging on psychosocial support aim to provide cessation advice, increase self-efficacy and confidence, and social support and behavioral capacity of quitting.