A mobile app offering distractions and tips to cope with cigarette craving: a qualitative study.

Background: Despite considerable effort, most smokers relapse within a few months after quitting due to cigarette craving. The widespread adoption of mobile phones presents new opportunities to provide support during attempts to quit.

Objective: To design and pilot a mobile app "DistractMe" to enable quitters to access and share distractions and tips to cope with cigarette cravings.

Methods: A qualitative study with 14 smokers who used DistractMe on their mobiles during the first weeks of their quit attempt. Based on interviews, diaries, and log data, we examined how the app supported quitting strategies.

Results: Three distinct techniques of coping when using DistractMe were identified: diversion, avoidance, and displacement. We further identified three forms of engagement with tips for coping: preparation, fortification, and confrontation. Overall, strategies to prevent cravings and their effects (avoidance, displacement, preparation, and fortification) were more common than immediate coping strategies (diversion and confrontation). Tips for coping were more commonly used than distractions to cope with cravings, because they helped to fortify the quit attempt and provided opportunities to connect with other users of the application. However, distractions were important to attract new users and to facilitate content sharing.

Conclusions: Based on the qualitative results, we recommend that mobile phone-based interventions focus on tips shared by peers and frequent content updates. Apps also require testing with larger groups of users to assess whether they can be self-sustaining.