Behavioral Therapy for People With Diabetes Who Smoke: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking exacerbates diabetes-related complications; its prevalence is notwithstanding substantial. Persons with diabetes face a number of barriers and challenges to quitting such as multiple lifestyle restrictions; tailored interventions are required for smoking cessation. OBJECTIVE: To identify research on behavioral interventions for smoking cessation in diabetes. METHODS: Studies had to be randomized controlled trials, quasiexperimental or systematic reviews. The behavioral interventions included were: the 5As, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Contingency Management, Health Coaching and Counselling, as compared to standard care. The outcomes were self-reported and/or biochemically verified smoking cessation. CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE Complete, the Cochrane databases of systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials, PsychInfo and PubMed Central were searched until July, 2023. Keywords used included diabetes, smoking cessation and each of the behavioral interventions included. RESULTS: 1615 papers were identified. Three studies on the 5As/brief advice, 4 on Motivational Intervention and 1 on counseling were retained. The results on the 5As and Motivational Interviewing were conflicting. More intensive interventions appear to be more successful in achieving smoking cessation in smokers with diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Future research should focus on the continued development and evaluation of structured smoking cessation interventions based on the 5As, Motivational interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

User evaluation and feasibility test of an app designed for smoking cessation in Italian people who smoke: preliminary findings from an uncontrolled pre-test post-test open study.

BACKGROUND: mHealth is a public health practice that exploits the use of mobile devices, including smartphone applications. We will describe an uncontrolled pre-test post-test open pilot study concerning the feasibility evaluation of a smartphone App designed to help in smoking cessation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a smartphone app as a tool for smoking cessation. This study is necessary to the literature because smoking is a major public health concern and has been linked to various health issues such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and cancer. While there are several smoking cessation interventions available, the use of mobile devices to aid in smoking cessation is a relatively new and innovative approach that requires further investigation. METHODS: The App "Smoke Free" was configured on the devices of N = 30 participants who smoked combustible cigarette, 13 males and 17 females aged 18 to 55 years, with the indications to use it for 90 days, describe their experience, suggest new features, and report any critical aspect. The study consisted of an initial screening visit to select participants that reflected the inclusion criteria and 4 study visits: a baseline visit, two follow-up visits, and one final visit. We used descriptive stats to summarize results. Repeated measures ANOVA and Wilcoxon test were used to test differences in smoking consumption, self-reported craving, and measured eCO level. Statistical software Jamovi was used for analysis. Interviews were conducted via phone or in-person and analyzed using qualitative description principles. RESULTS: Participants evaluated the app as having good aesthetic appeal and user-friendliness but being moderately useful, despite some quitting or reducing their smoking behavior. To improve it, participants have proposed features such as more notifications, social network integration, and damage caused by smoking to the body over time for future app updates. CONCLUSIONS: The application was moderately useful with good feasibility, with several suggestions for future updates that could improve its effectiveness.

Update on Cyber Health Psychology: Virtual Reality and Mobile Health Tools in Psychotherapy, Clinical Rehabilitation, and Addiction Treatment.

(1) Background: we investigated and analyzed the most recent implementations of technology in the fields of psychotherapy, clinical rehabilitation, and addiction treatment. (2) Methods: from December 2021 to January 2022, we conducted a review aimed at identifying the recent implementations of technology in cyber health psychology, with particular reference to Virtual Reality in psychotherapy, mHealth tools in clinical rehabilitation, and smartphone applications in the treatment of addiction to substances of abuse, searching for relevant studies in the databases PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Health & Medical Collection, and APA PsycArticles. (3) Results: the tools analyzed are in constant development and are increasingly used, with good results, and further technological progress could lead to even better treatment outcomes; as far as mHealth tools and smartphone applications are concerned, anti-smoking Apps are the most widespread, followed by those for the treatment of alcohol use disorder, and there is no presence of Apps for the treatment of heroin, cocaine, or crack addiction. (4) Conclusions: the results of the review indicate that these technological tools are increasingly used and are, in principle, effective and have numerous advantages, including low cost and versatility.