HPRC Researcher Partners with the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline to Test a New Smartphone App for Smoking Cessation

Michael Businelle,Ph.D., co-director of the TSET Health Promotion Research Center, is partnering with TSET and the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline to test the new OKquit smartphone application for smoking cessation. The OKquit app was developed to reduce barriers to receiving smoking cessation services, boost treatment engagement, and ultimately increase quit success.

Since 2003, the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline has provided web and phone-based counseling services to over 470,000 tobacco users. Although smoking rates have come down across the U.S. and Oklahoma over the past 60 years, smoking in Oklahoma (about 19% smoke) remains higher than in the U.S. overall (12.5% smoke). The OKquit smoking cessation app offers a convenient and innovative new resource for Oklahomans who want to quit smoking.

The OKquit app meets smokers “where they are” by offering 24/7 smoking cessation resources and content that is tailored to the immediate needs of its users. Businelle said, “This flexible and convenient resource is an additional tool that can be used with or without traditional Helpline counseling phone calls.”

The OKquit study is enrolling 500 men and women seeking smoking cessation treatment services from the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline. Participants will receive standard Helpline services (e.g., nicotine patches), and will complete a 30-second daily check-in on the OKquit app. Half of the study participants will also have access to on-demand content and tailored messages through the app. Participants in the OKquit program will earn up to $225 for testing the app. No in-person visits are required.

Current smokers that call the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) will be given the opportunity to enroll in the program if they own a smartphone that is compatible with the OKquit app.

This research is primarily supported by the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Grant R23-02, and the Mobile Health Technology Shared Resource, which is a component of the Stephenson Cancer Center’s NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (P30CA225520).