A Pilot Trial of Gamification for Enhancing a Smoking Cessation App.

项目总结 提高戒烟干预的有效性将显著减少过早死亡 肺癌和其他与烟草有关的疾病。智能手机戒烟应用程序就是其中之一 随着越来越多的吸烟者转向智能手机寻求戒烟帮助，这一方法前景看好。然而，这些 这些课程的辍学率很高。本申请的总体目标是开发一种新的干预措施来 在基于智能手机的戒烟干预中，通过吸引和留住吸烟者来增加戒烟。 中心假设是一款带有游戏化的戒烟应用程序--一种使用非货币手段的激励工具 让行为变得有趣或好玩的奖励-相对于应用程序，将提高参与度、留存率和戒毒率 没有游戏化。行为经济学是一个新兴的领域，可以用来为设计 游戏化干预。其基本原理是，确定知情理论的可行性和早期有效性 游戏化干预将提供一个强有力的科学框架，以制定新的促进战略 戒烟。核心假设将通过追求两个具体目标来检验：1)扩大现有的 智能手机停止应用程序，带有游戏化功能，以提高参与度和留存率；2)测试可行性， 与未游戏化的应用程序相比，游戏化的应用程序的参与度、保持能力和早期效果。这个 第一个目标是开发和测试基于游戏的设计的可行性和可接受性，这将是 由行为经济学洞察以及对吸烟者的迭代可用性测试提供信息。它将面向 围绕着一系列保持节制的7天挑战。APP用户将为参与活动积累积分 在应用程序中指定活动，并维护游戏中的头像，该头像将提供 他们在戒烟方面的进展。第二个目标是进行随机试点试验，以测试 游戏化提高了戒烟应用程序的参与度、保持率和早期效果。一个多样化的 在网上招募的成年吸烟者样本将被随机分配到现有的戒烟应用程序或现有的应用程序 通过游戏化来增强。将对参与者进行评估，以确定参与者在参与度、保持能力、 以及生化检测证实的吸烟状况。这项拟议的研究具有创新性，因为它关注的是一部小说 理论知情干预作为一种激励吸烟者继续参与戒烟计划的策略。这个 拟议的研究意义重大，因为预计它将为继续 游戏化方法的发展和进一步评价。归根结底，这样的知识有可能 提供新机会发展创新策略，以改善戒烟情况 采取干预措施，减少因烟草引起的癌症和其他疾病的风险 人口。

PROJECT SUMMARY Enhancing the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions would significantly reduce premature deaths from lung cancer and other tobacco-related diseases. Smartphone apps for smoking cessation are one promising approach, as more smokers turn to their smartphones for assistance with quitting. However, these programs have high drop-out rates. The overall objective in this application is to develop a novel intervention to increase smoking cessation by engaging and retaining smokers in smartphone-based cessation interventions. The central hypothesis is that a cessation app with gamification—a motivational tool that uses non-monetary rewards to make behavior fun or playful—will increase engagement, retention, and quit rates relative to an app without gamification. Behavioral economics is an emerging field that can be leveraged to inform the design of a gamification intervention. The rationale is that determining the feasibility and early efficacy of a theory-informed gamification intervention will offer a strong scientific framework to develop new strategies for promoting smoking cessation. The central hypothesis will be tested by pursuing two specific aims: 1) Augment an existing smartphone cessation app with gamification to increase engagement and retention, and 2) Test the feasibility, engagement, retention, and early efficacy of the `gamified' app, compared to one without gamification. The goal of the first aim is to develop and test the feasibility and acceptability of a game-based design that will be informed by behavioral economic insights as well as iterative usability testing with smokers. It will be oriented around a series of 7-day challenges to stay abstinent. App users will accumulate points for engaging in specified activities within the app, and maintain an in-game avatar that will provide a visual representation of their progress in quitting. The goal of the second aim is to conduct a randomized pilot trial to test whether gamification enhances engagement, retention, and early efficacy of a smoking cessation app. A diverse sample of adult smokers recruited online will be randomized to an existing cessation app or to the existing app augmented with gamification. Participants will be assessed to determine differences in engagement, retention, and biochemically verified smoking status. The proposed research is innovative, because it focuses on a novel theory-informed intervention as a strategy to motivate smokers to stay engaged in a cessation program. The proposed research is significant, because it is expected to provide strong justification for the continued development and further evaluation of gamification approaches. Ultimately, such knowledge has the potential of offering new opportunities for the development of innovative strategies to improve smoking cessation interventions and reduce the risk of cancer and other illnesses attributable to tobacco among diverse populations.