Avoid Smoking: mHealth Evidence and Theory-Based Intervention to Promote Smoking Prevention Behaviors

Mobile technologies and devices effectively maintain health and well-being is a promising opportunity for health policymakers and relevant stakeholders.

The current study aimed to evaluate a mhealth program to promote smoking prevention behaviors among university students in northern Iraq. The integrative model of factors influencing smoking behavior (IMFISB) was used as a theoretical framework.

This quasi-experimental research study was conducted on 150 Kurdish students of Raparin University in northern Iraq. University students were randomly divided into intervention (n = 75) or control (n = 75) groups. The mhealth theory-based intervention program was evaluated using the mobile application (Avoid Smoking) in eight sessions. The data was collected using a questionnaire before and two months after the program’s implementation and analyzed in SPSS software version 16.

The effect size was estimated as "small" for belief, value, and family pressure. The effect size was estimated as “medium" for knowledge, attitude, peer pressure, self-image, and intention. The average response for smoking prevention behaviors was 15.17, which significantly increased to 16.88 after program implementation among the intervention group (P < 0.001), and the effect size was estimated to be "medium" for smoking prevention behaviors.

Based on the results, smoking prevention interventions can be effective among students using mobile health evidence-based interventions.