Smartphone-based Financial Incentives for Smoking, Cessation

"There are few common treatment options available for smoking. Many of these medications, including beta blockers and a proton-pump inhibitor, may increase blood pressure and are contraindicated in patients with a history of cardiac disease or hypertension. More potent drugs such as nictiazem, nicardipine, dofetilide, and others can acutely trigger torsades de pointes. There are a few classes that have not been specifically approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of smoking. The benzodiazepines and other sedative drugs have been shown in clinical trials to reduce the intensity of smoking." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"The most common early symptoms of smoking include sore throat, swollen gums, itching and dry mouth. More than 90% of individuals who quit smoking will feel a change in weight and appetite at 6 months. Smoking is linked clinically to a wide range of diseases but more importantly to a considerable number of disease-related deaths. Some of these diseases include heart disease, heart attacks, lung cancer, stroke, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. If symptoms occur before the age of 40, a history or family history of smoking may have a genetic origin, and then be exacerbated by smoking. If symptoms occur after the age of 40, they can be attributed to the ageing of the immune system and increased exposure to toxins." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"It seems that around 20% of men had a cigarette in the past 12 months. Smoking men were most likely to have a history of at least one cardiovascular disease. This finding suggests the existence of a substantial number of asymptomatic, or'silent', smokers in the United Kingdom." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"Smoking is a behaviour or addictive habit with some health and social impacts. The health impact is mostly on the lungs and heart. Smoking causes a wide range of diseases and abnormalities including cancers.\n" - Anonymous Online Contributor

"Smoking is associated with a long list of physical ill-effects. Although these are often painful, they are, in general, not debilitating. However, many smokers spend up to 50% of their waking hours actively trying to suppress pain. In smokers, chronic suppression of pain leads to an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This may lead to increased risk of heart disease. A cure for smoking therefore might be a more complicated process than was first thought." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"Smoking is one of the most common public health decisions, and the consequences are enormous. People need to be informed that smoking is a major cause of cancer and other diseases, particularly lung cancer. It becomes more important to inform people about the risks of cancer, respiratory failure, and infertility and to raise the health profile of tobacco." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"Participation in studies where participants receive monetary rewards for completing particular tasks is feasible and acceptable to participants, and improves retention and participation rates. It should be implemented in more studies investigating the effectiveness of digital and offline financial incentives in increasing the recruitment of individuals from marginalized racial and ethnic populations who may typically not participate in a research study. The data should also be used to educate users about proper use of online financial incentives and to develop appropriate tools to use online when incentives are required." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"These new discoveries will help us better understand how smoking stimulates the brain’s neurons, and is harmful to them. The researchers can expect to use the knowledge I have discovered to develop a more effective way to treat smoking. In the long run doctors should be able to stop smoking and still be doctors. It’s a miracle medicine! There are also some things that people should not smoke." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"Given that smokers are generally perceived as unsuitable candidates for participation in trials due to low likelihood of achieving a difference from the control condition, a larger approach may be more appropriate to test the effectiveness of a smoking cessation programme for smokers who are perceived as more likely to experience a meaningful treatment effect from cessation and can be considered suitable candidates to participate in trials." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"Previous clinical trials have used electronic incentives with mixed-mode recruitment techniques, including a monetary incentive scheme by direct invitation to participate in the research. However, smartphone-based monetary incentives of a similar nature to those employed in the current study did not yield significantly higher recruitment figures." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"The common side effects of the smartphone lottery were minor and were similar to the common side effects of other forms of financial incentives. There was also a very substantial increase in the positive side effects of smartphone-based financial incentives after the lottery closing time." - Anonymous Online Contributor

"Results are mixed regarding the effectiveness of monetary incentives to increase behavior change and, hence, smoking cessation. More research is needed to tease-out which components are actually responsible for these outcomes and which may only have an effect via the mechanism of money." - Anonymous Online Contributor