Digital tobacco cessation interventions for adults and their effectiveness: A systematic review

Abstract

Objectives: 1) To describe digital tobacco cessation interventions that currently being utilized, 2) To evaluate the effective of digital tobacco cessation intervention in comparison to usual treatment/ no intervention.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which, the intervention group received digital tobacco cessation interventions, and the control group received usual treatment only. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Risk of bias 2 (RoB 2) checklist. Effectiveness of the interventions was evaluated through self-reported or biochemically validated point prevalence of abstinence (PPA).

Results: Of the total 1,364 records identified in multiple databases, twelve RCTs were eligible for inclusion, with 41.6% of them having low risk of bias. Overall, 58.3% of the digital tobacco cessation interventions demonstrated superior effectiveness in promoting smoking abstinence among tobacco users compared to usual or standard treatment.

Conclusion: Our systematic review supported the effectiveness of delivering digital tobacco interventions to achieve higher smoking abstinence rates. However, future studies should recruit higher-quality studies and conduct a meta-analysis to better understand the efficacy of digital interventions for tobacco cessation worldwide.