General Health News
Text Message Program Helps Smokers Quit
By: Staff Writer | Wednesday 06 July 2011 09:00 PDT
Text Message Program Helps Smokers Quit
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine recently conducted a text messaging program that has reportedly helped participants quit smoking.
The program discovered that daily words of encouragement, sent via text messages, can help smokers kick the habit.
Overall, nearly 6,000 people participated in the program, known as txt2stop. During the program, those that signed up for the program received five text messages per day for five weeks and then three messages per day for the following 26 weeks. People could also text the system if they had intense cravings or felt a lapse was occurring.
After six months, the txt2stop program experienced a 10.7 percent success rate, while a similar control group had 4.9 percent of participants quit.
"Text messages are a very convenient way for smokers to receive support to quit," said Caroline Free, a clinical lecturer at the London-based school. "People described txt2stop as being like having a 'friend' encouraging them or an 'angel on their shoulder.' It helped people resist the temptation to smoke."
Thus, while smokers continue to try various methods to curb their cravings, relying on friends might be the best way to kick the habit and achieve peace of mind.
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