BREATHE FREE: Smartphone Videogame-Based Incentives for Smoking Cessation

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Cigarette smoking remains the number one cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the U S Each year one third to one half of smokers attempt to quit at least once however approximately of quit attempts fail A number of interventions have been developed to help smokers initiate and maintain abstinence Unfortunately even though most smokers express a desire to quit relapse is the most likely outcome Thus it is not only critically important that more effective interventions be developed to reduce relapse but it is also a primary public health goal to ensure that evidence based smoking cessation interventions be made widely available and at a low cost to smokers One of the most powerful evidence based behavioral interventions for smoking cessation is contingency management CM CM for smoking cessation consists of delivering incentives typically money contingent on objective evidence of smoking abstinence e g carbon monoxide CO levels in the exhaled breath However the cost of providing incentives the time it takes to administer the program and the distance that must be traveled to participate in supervised monitoring procedures are often cited as barriers to CM This SBIR Fast Track proposal seeks to develop a mobile videogame based contingency management intervention for smoking cessation The goals of the present proposal are to markedly decrease costs improve sustainability and further increase accessibility of CM interventions for smoking cessation To increase access all aspects of the intervention will be available via Android or iOS smartphones used in conjunction with a matchbox sized peripheral device for monitoring breath CO To decrease costs and improve sustainability the mobile game we will develop will allow us to replace the monetary incentives typically used in CM interventions with in game andquot virtual rewardsandquot that can immediately be used to help players meet game objectives as well as with social reinforcement prompted and incentivized in the context of the game In Phase I an iterative design and formative evaluation process will be used to create a game design and storyboard for the mobile game to be developed in Phase II the CO data collection software will be produced and integrated with the CO Monitor and a demo of the videogame will be developed The demo created will be presented to treatment seeking smokers owning the target platform devices who will then complete a survey andamp prospective evaluation of the planned intervention In Phase II the development of the videogame capable of supporting weeks of play will be completed and a week randomized control trial outcome evaluation will be conducted with subjects to assess the feasibility acceptability appeal and efficacy of the smoking cessation intervention PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE We propose to develop and evaluate a mobile videogame based smoking cessation intervention that will overcome barriers to treatment using such as cost sustainability participation time and travel burdens and program appeal This videogame will be the first of its kind is based on an evidence based intervention shown to promote smoking abstinence and we anticipate it will be highly effective for helping smokers who wish to quit stop smoking The findings from this research will be of great public health significance because of the unprecedented reach and relatively low cost as well as the potential for similar interventions to be developed for other health problems such as alcohol or drug abuse and medication adherence for chronic illnesses