About a third of smokers sent multiple emails about quitting were smoke-free six months later, compared with a quarter of smokers sent just one email, reports MedPage Today.
“Stand-alone tailored, multiple emails providing support, motivation and information during a quit attempt are an easily deployable, inexpensive mode of providing effective cessation assistance to large numbers of smokers,” they wrote.
In an interview with MedPage Today, Westmaas said telephone quit-lines such as 1-800-QUIT-NOW are widely available, but poorly utilized by smokers attempting to quit.
“Quit lines require interaction with another person, and some smokers may not like that,” he said, adding that around 5% of smokers making quit attempts use the free telephone service.
Efforts to utilize newer technologies, such as computers and smartphones, as smoking cessation tools have shown promise, but Westmaas said the study is the first to examine the impact of email notifications on cessation rates among smokers motivated to quit.
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