TY  - JOUR
AU  - Brinker, Titus Josef
AU  - Brieske, Christian Martin
AU  - Esser, Stefan
AU  - Klode, Joachim
AU  - Mons, Ute
AU  - Batra, Anil
AU  - Rüther, Tobias
AU  - Seeger, Werner
AU  - Enk, Alexander H
AU  - von Kalle, Christof
AU  - Berking, Carola
AU  - Heppt, Markus V
AU  - Gatzka, Martina V
AU  - Bernardes-Souza, Breno
AU  - Schlenk, Richard F
AU  - Schadendorf, Dirk
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/08/15
TI  - A Face-Aging App for Smoking Cessation in a Waiting Room Setting: Pilot Study in an HIV Outpatient Clinic
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e10976
VL  - 20
IS  - 8
KW  - face aging
KW  - smoking cessation
KW  - HIV
KW  - mobile apps
KW  - HIV patients
KW  - HIV seropositivity
KW  - smoking
KW  - cessation
KW  - tobacco smoking
KW  - morphing
AB  - Background: There is strong evidence for the effectiveness of addressing tobacco use in health care settings. However, few smokers receive cessation advice when visiting a hospital. Implementing smoking cessation technology in outpatient waiting rooms could be an effective strategy for change, with the potential to expose almost all patients visiting a health care provider without preluding physician action needed. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop an intervention for smoking cessation that would make use of the time patients spend in a waiting room by passively exposing them to a face-aging, public morphing, tablet-based app, to pilot the intervention in a waiting room of an HIV outpatient clinic, and to measure the perceptions of this intervention among smoking and nonsmoking HIV patients. Methods: We developed a kiosk version of our 3-dimensional face-aging app Smokerface, which shows the user how their face would look with or without cigarette smoking 1 to 15 years in the future. We placed a tablet with the app running on a table in the middle of the waiting room of our HIV outpatient clinic, connected to a large monitor attached to the opposite wall. A researcher noted all the patients who were using the waiting room. If a patient did not initiate app use within 30 seconds of waiting time, the researcher encouraged him or her to do so. Those using the app were asked to complete a questionnaire. Results: During a 19-day period, 464 patients visited the waiting room, of whom 187 (40.3%) tried the app and 179 (38.6%) completed the questionnaire. Of those who completed the questionnaire, 139 of 176 (79.0%) were men and 84 of 179 (46.9%) were smokers. Of the smokers, 55 of 81 (68%) said the intervention motivated them to quit (men: 45, 68%; women: 10, 67%); 41 (51%) said that it motivated them to discuss quitting with their doctor (men: 32, 49%; women: 9, 60%); and 72 (91%) perceived the intervention as fun (men: 57, 90%; women: 15, 94%). Of the nonsmokers, 92 (98%) said that it motivated them never to take up smoking (men: 72, 99%; women: 20, 95%). Among all patients, 102 (22.0%) watched another patient try the app without trying it themselves; thus, a total of 289 (62.3%) of the 464 patients were exposed to the intervention (average waiting time 21 minutes). Conclusions: A face-aging app implemented in a waiting room provides a novel opportunity to motivate patients visiting a health care provider to quit smoking, to address quitting at their subsequent appointment and thereby encourage physician-delivered smoking cessation, or not to take up smoking. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - http://www.jmir.org/2018/8/e10976/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/10976
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30111525
DO  - 10.2196/10976
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/10976
ER  -