[Effectiveness of digital therapy added to the usual intervention for smoking cessation in primary care].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of adding a digital therapeutic intervention to usual care for smoking cessation in patients attended in primary care.

METHODS

A randomized controlled trial including 220 smokers allocated to two groups: usual care (G1; n=110) and usual care plus digital therapy (G2; n=110). Usual care followed the SEMERGEN REVERSE protocol. Sociodemographic and clinical variables, smoking history, nicotine dependence (Fagerström test), motivation to quit (Richmond test), and comorbidities were collected. Primary outcomes were smoking abstinence at 3 and 6months; secondary outcomes included percentage reduction in cigarette consumption.

RESULTS

Abstinence at 3months was higher in the digital therapy group than in the usual care group (59.1% vs. 44.5%; P=0.043). At 6months, abstinence rates were 50.0% in G2 and 35.5% in G1 (P=0.041). The percentage reduction in cigarette consumption was significantly greater in the digital therapy group (46.5±12.7%) compared with controls (25.4±12.0%) (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

In a real-world primary care setting, adding a digital therapeutic intervention to usual care was associated with higher smoking abstinence rates and greater consumption reduction in the short and medium term.