Quit With Sense: Using Mindful Smoking and Wearable Device for Smoking Cessation

Cigarette smoking is a leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality andcontributes to cancer, lung disease, health care costs, and reduced quality of life.Although many adults who smoke cigarettes attempt to quit, long‐term cessation ratesremain low. Mindfulness‐based strategies may help people who smoke manage cravings byincreasing awareness of present‐moment thoughts, emotions, and physical sensationswithout automatically reacting by smoking.This pilot randomized controlled trial will evaluate a smoking cessation interventionthat combines mindful smoking practice with use of a smartphone‐based sensor‐band. Thestudy will enroll 30 adults who regularly smoke cigarettes and are motivated to quitsmoking or make a quit attempt. Participants will be randomly assigned to an interventiongroup or a control group, with approximately 15 participants in each group.Participants in the intervention group will receive a one‐hour, one‐on‐one, in‐personmindful smoking guidance session from a certified mindfulness instructor. The sessionwill teach participants to manage cravings mindfully using the RAIN method: Recognize,Accept, Investigate, and Note. Participants will also receive a mindfulness practicevideo for home practice and in‐person instruction from a research assistant on use of thesmartphone‐based sensor‐band. During the 8‐week self‐management and intervention period,participants in the intervention group will be instructed to practice mindful smokingwhen they feel a craving to smoke. They will be asked to record their craving level,duration of mindful smoking practice, feelings after mindful smoking, heart rate at thetime of craving, heart rate at the end of mindful smoking practice, and daily cigarettesmoking activities.Participants in the control group will receive smoking cessation information published bythe American Lung Association, including printed smoking cessation materials. Controlgroup participants will be asked to record their daily cigarette smoking activities.Data will be collected at baseline, 8 weeks after the intervention begins, and 4 monthsafter the intervention is completed. Feasibility will be assessed by recruitment rate,time to recruit the target sample, intervention uptake rate, attrition rate, andparticipant satisfaction. Preliminary effectiveness will be assessed by 8‐week and4‐month smoking abstinence rates and smoking reduction. Smoking abstinence will beconfirmed using exhaled carbon monoxide measurement. The study will also assess stresslevel, self‐control and management level, mindfulness level, heart rate variation, skintemperature, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, and real‐time heart rate duringcraving and mindful smoking practice.