Smoking Cessation Support by Text Message During Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study of Views and Experiences of the MiQuit Intervention

Abstract

Introduction:SMS text messaging is increasingly used for delivering smoking cessation support and pilot studies suggest this may also be useful in pregnancy. This study explores the views of women who received a tailored text messaging cessation intervention (MiQuit) during pregnancy, focusing on acceptability, perceived impact, and suggestions for improvements.Methods:Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 15 purposively sampled women who had received the MiQuit intervention during pregnancy as part of a randomized controlled trial. Data were analyzed thematically.Results:Three main themes were identified: “impact”, “approach,” and “optimization.” Participants described an immediate, yet often short-lived, impact from the texts that distracted and delayed them from smoking and they perceived that texts focusing on the development of and risk to the baby generated more enduring emotional impacts. Most women found receiving support by text preferable to face-to-face cessation support, with participants citing the greater regularity, convenience, and non-judgmental style as particular advantages. Participants would have preferred a longer support program with increased tailoring, greater customization of text timings and consideration of cutting down as an alternative/precursor to quitting.Conclusion:Pregnancy-specific cessation support by text message was well received and participants considered the support increased their motivation to stop smoking. The focus on the developing baby, the regularity of contact and the provision of gentle, encouraging messages were highlighted as particularly important elements of the program.Implications:This study adds further evidence to the acceptability and perceived positive impact of text-messaging programs in aiding smoking cessation in pregnancy. The findings indicate that for some women, this type of support is preferable to face-to-face methods and could be utilized by health professionals, either in addition to current methods or as an alternative. This study is also relevant to researchers developing health-related text programs to consider participants’ desire for greater tailoring. Further research is required into adapting and continuing text support for women postpartum.

Development and acceptability testing of a Facebook smoking cessation intervention for sexual and gender minority young adults

“…The goal of the present study was to test acceptability of and engagement in the Put It Out Project (POP), an SGM-tailored intervention, using a mixed-methods approach. Similar studies have been conducted for several other digital smoking cessation interventions tailored to specific populations of smokers, including pregnant women (Sloan et al, 2017), people with severe mental illness (Ferron et al, 2011; Ferron et al, 2017; Vilardaga et al, 2018), low-income women (McDaniel et al, 2002; Wen et al, 2014) and veterans (Duffy et al, 2013). Previous studies have obtained either qualitative (Sloan et al, 2017; Ferron et al, 2011; Ferron et al, 2017; Vilardaga et al, 2018; Houston and Ford, 2008) or quantitative (Ferron et al, 2017; McDaniel et al, 2002; Wen et al, 2014; Duffy et al, 2013) feedback from participants, with few studies integrating mixed methods.…”

“…This was consistent with a systematic review on face-to-face smoking cessation interventions, suggesting that non-tailored interventions—if accessed—are equally effective for SGMs as non-SGMs (Lee et al, 2014), as well as recent findings suggesting the same with a digital intervention (Vogel et al, 2019). However, tailored digital interventions for smoking cessation have generally been shown to be particularly well-received (Sloan et al, 2017; Ferron et al, 2011; McDaniel et al, 2002; Duffy et al, 2013), and a recent study found that a face-to-face tailored smoking cessation intervention had higher acceptability than its non-tailored version (Matthews et al, 2018). Nonetheless, to our knowledge, this is the first acceptability study in the area of digital smoking cessation interventions that directly compares responses to SGM-tailored and non-tailored intervention content at the level of individual Facebook posts.…”

Clients’ perceptions and experiences of targeted digital communication accessible via mobile devices for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health: a qualitative evidence synthesis

“…Many studies from a variety of contexts and client groups presented data related to the range of participants’ views regarding the acceptance of DTCC and the factors that influenced this acceptance (Akinfaderin‐Agarau 2012; Brown 2014; Calderón 2017; Cates 2015; Cornelius 2009; Curioso 2009; Evans 2016; French 2016; Gold 2010; Greaney 2014; Hirsch‐Moverman 2017; Jalloh‐Vos 2014; Jennings 2013;Lau 2014; Mbuagbaw 2012; Mbuagbaw 2014; Menacho 2013; Missal 2016; Munro 2017; Naughton 2013; Odeny 2014; Perry 2012; Rana 2015; Rodrigues 2015; Sloan 2017; Smillie 2014; Smith 2017; Willoughby 2017; Wright 2011). Many participants had not used mobile devices to access health information previously, but were open to and interested in the idea of digital health interventions being used to deliver up‐to‐date knowledge and information or reminders for appointments or medication (Akinfaderin‐Agarau 2012; Cates 2015; Evans 2016; Gold 2010; Greaney 2014; Hirsch‐Moverman 2017; Jennings 2013; Lau 2014; Mbuagbaw 2014; Odeny 2014).…”

Evaluating the use of text message communication in a postpartum patient navigation program for publicly insured women

“…One rapidly growing communications practice in healthcare lies in mobile health (mHealth) through short message service (SMS) text message communications [14]. As a platform for interventions in a broad range of health contexts, SMS messaging has been shown to be an informal, non-judgmental, inexpensive, and rapid response medium for patients to connect to care [14,15].…”

“…One rapidly growing communications practice in healthcare lies in mobile health (mHealth) through short message service (SMS) text message communications [14]. As a platform for interventions in a broad range of health contexts, SMS messaging has been shown to be an informal, non-judgmental, inexpensive, and rapid response medium for patients to connect to care [14,15]. Health appointment reminders increasingly use text messages in lieu of traditional phone call reminders [16], and sending healthcare-related text messages has been found to improve physical and mental health metrics while achieving high patient and physician satisfaction [15,17].…”