MHealth Intervention is Effective in Creating Smoke-Free Homes for Newborns: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study in China

Abstract

Mobile-phone-based smoking cessation intervention has been shown to increase quitting among smokers. However, such intervention has not yet been applied to secondhand smoke (SHS) reduction programs that target smoking parents of newborns. This randomized controlled trial, undertaken in Changchun, China, assessed whether interventions that incorporate traditional and mobile-phone-based education will help create smoke-free homes for infants and increase quitting among fathers. The results showed that the abstinence rates of the fathers at 6 months (adjusted OR: 3.60, 95% CI: 1.41-9.25; p = 0.008) and 12 months (adjusted OR: 2.93, 95% CI: 1.24-6.94; p = 0.014) were both significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control. Mothers of the newborns in the intervention group also reported reduced exposure to SHS at 12 months (adjusted OR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.29-0.99; p = 0.046). The findings suggest that adding mHealth interventions to traditional face-to-face health counseling may be an effective way to increase male smoking cessation and reduce mother and newborn SHS exposure in the home.