Description
MiQuit is a low-cost, tailored, digital intervention designed specifically for pregnant smokers. It delivers a 12-week programme of personalised, theory-guided advice and support for quitting smoking in pregnancy via SMS text messaging. MiQuit is fully-automated and is user-initiated by sending a text message, so women can use it without any health professional involvement. It uses 14 participant characteristics to individually-tailor support, including gestation, motivation to quit, the hardest situation to avoid smoking, cessation self-efficacy, cigarette dependence and partner’s smoking status.
Automated support messages sent to participants’ phones include motivational messages, advice about quit attempt preparation, managing cravings and withdrawal, dealing with trigger situations and preventing lapses, plus information about foetal development and how smoking affects this. Users can also request on-demand support for combating cravings or returning to abstinence after a lapse.
Research
Following a rigorous process of intervention development, testing and refinement, a large, NIHR-funded, multicentre pilot randomised controlled trial (N=407) was carried out. This suggests that using MiQuit in addition to usual care is likely to be effective and cost-effective for helping pregnant smokers to quit. A concurrent qualitative project showed MiQuit to be highly acceptable to pregnant smokers. A definitive trial is now underway at the University of Nottingham.
Another strand of research investigated how MiQuit might be implemented to maximise its reach and uptake cost-effectively. Links to a website providing MiQuit initiation information were advertised online using both commercial adverts (search-based and pop-up) and free-of-charge links on health websites. Results suggest that commercial online advertising of MiQuit reached women earlier in pregnancy than interventions delivered in clinical settings can typically achieve, and costs appear to compare favourably with other interventions for pregnant smokers.
Funding
The research described above was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under the Programme Grants for Applied Research programme (RP-PG-0109-10020, Improving the effectiveness and reach of NHS support for smoking cessation in pregnancy), awarded to Professor Tim Coleman (University of Nottingham). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the HTA, NIHR, NHS or the Department of Health.
Publications (most recent first):
Emery JL, Coleman T, Sutton S, Cooper S, Leonardi-Bee J, Jones M, Naughton F. (2018) Uptake of Tailored Text Message Smoking Cessation Support in Pregnancy When Advertised on the Internet (MiQuit): Observational Study, Journal of Medical Internet Research; 20(4):e146 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.8525
Journal of Medical Internet Research (in press).
Naughton F, Cooper S, Foster K, Emery J, Leonardi-Bee J, Sutton S, Jones M, Ussher M, Whitemore R, Leighton M, Montgomery A, Parrott S, Coleman T. (2017) Large multicentre randomised controlled trial testing a low-cost, tailored, self-help smoking cessation text message intervention for pregnant smokers (MiQuit). Addiction; 112(7):1238-1249. doi: 10.1111/add.13802
Sloan M, Hopewell S, Coleman T, Cooper S, Naughton F. (2017) Smoking cessation support by text message during pregnancy: A qualitative study of views and experiences of the MiQuit intervention. Nicotine and Tobacco Research; 19(5):572-577. doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntw241
Naughton F, Cooper S, Bowker K, Campbell K, Sutton S, Leonardi-Bee J, Sloan M, Coleman T. (2015) Adaptation and uptake evaluation of an SMS text message smoking cessation programme (MiQuit) for use in antenatal care. BMJ Open; 5(10):e008871. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008871.
Cooper S, Foster K, Naughton F, Leonardi-Bee J, Sutton S, Ussher M, et al. (2015) Pilot study to evaluate a tailored text message intervention for pregnant smokers (MiQuit): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials; 16:29. doi.org/10.1186/s13063-014-0546-4
Naughton F, Jamison J, Sutton S. (2013) Attitudes towards SMS text message smoking cessation support: a qualitative study of pregnant smokers. Health Education Research; 28(5):911-22. doi:10.1093/her/cyt057
Naughton F, Prevost AT, Gilbert H, Sutton S. (2012) Randomised controlled trial evaluation of a tailored leaflet and SMS text message self-help intervention for pregnant smokers (MiQuit). Nicotine & Tobacco Research; 14(5):569-77. doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntr254