Social media helps young adults quit smoking

Ottawa: A research has found that young adults who use social media to quit smoking are twice as successful in their efforts as those who use a more traditional method. The study, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, compared the success of the social media-based campaign Break It Off with Smokers' Helpline, a telephone hotline for young adults looking to quit smoking.

After three months in the programme, 32 per cent of smokers who used Break It Off apps and web tools had quit smoking, compared to 14 per cent of their peers who used the telephone-based support. "These results suggest that the creators of public health campaigns need to evaluate how they use social media channels and social networks to improve health, especially with regards to younger demographics," said lead researcher Bruce Baskerville, senior scientist at University of Waterloo in Canada.

The Canadian Cancer Society launched Break It Off in January 2012 to engage young adults in smoking cessation through an interactive website and social media. The campaign, which compares quitting smoking with ending a romantic relationship, provides users with an interactive website and smartphone app to encourage smoking cessation.

In Canada, young adults aged 19 to 29 have the highest rate of smoking, but they report low use of traditional cessation services, such as helplines. Young adults make up the largest demographic of social media users, with 91 per cent using Facebook and one-third actively engaged in micro-blogging sites, such as Twitter.

"Traditional cessation services can have limited reach and this reduced visibility lessens their impact in a digital era," Baskerville said. "Because they are such heavy users of social media, these platforms provide an alternative and successful way of reaching smokers who are less likely to relate to other cessation programs."