Chatbots for Smoking Cessation: Scoping Review (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Despite significant progress in reducing tobacco use over the past two decades, tobacco still kills over 8 million people every year. Digital interventions such as text messaging have been found to help people quit smoking. Chatbots, or conversational agents, are newer digital tools that mimic instantaneous human conversation and therefore could extend the effectiveness of text messaging. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aims to assess the extent of research in the chatbot literature for smoking cessation and provide recommendations for future research in this area. METHODS Relevant studies were identified through searches conducted in MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, Google Scholar and Scopus as well as an additional search on JMIR, Cochrane Library, Lancet Digital Health, and Digital Medicine. Studies were identified if they were conducted with tobacco smokers, were conducted between 2000 to 2021, were available in English and included a chatbot intervention. RESULTS Of the 323 studies identified, 10 studies were included in the review. Some studies noted an improvement in smoking cessation measures. However, the number of studies was limited and most had methodological or quality concerns. CONCLUSIONS More research is needed to make a firm conclusion of the efficacy of chatbots for smoking cessation. Researchers need to provide a more in-depth description of the chatbot functionality, mode of delivery, and theoretical underpinnings. CLINICALTRIAL na