If you are trying to quit smoking, you might soon have help in an unlikely source -- a personal data assistant.
Researchers at the University of Kansas are developing software that can be used in computers such as handheld PDAs to help people kick the habit by placing them on a smoking schedule.
James Grobe, assistant professor of psychology, and Dr. Delwyn Catley, assistant professor of preventative medicine and public health at KU Medical Center, are studying the effects of scheduled smoking on 25 smokers in the Lawrence area. The National Institute on Drug Abuse is funding the research.
For their study, the smokers first are allowed to smoke whenever they want, and that pattern is recorded by the computer program; then these smokers smoke only when the computer program on their PDA notifies them. Smokers following the schedule report that their cigarettes are less pleasurable, which may ultimately help them quit, Grobe said.
In previous research, those who successfully quit by using a smoking schedule usually maintained that schedule for two to four weeks. Furthermore, he said, a recent study said that people who quit through scheduled smoking were more likely to have abstained one year later.
So why are scheduled smoking routines so successful?
Grobe said the research conducted at KU is aimed at determining why these approaches work. Part of the reason is that they disrupt old habits and force smokers to develop coping skills.
"If you typically smoke with coffee, the computer may not schedule the cigarette with coffee. That forces you then to cope with the situation," he said. "You know you're going to have a cigarette eventually but you're not going to smoke with the coffee -- so you start to learn some skills. When you actually do quit, you're more prepared for it."
But what if you don't want a cigarette when your PDA notifies you?
That may be one of the effective ways scheduled smoking helps you quit, Grobe said.
"Being told to smoke when you don't want to actually makes the cigarette aversive," he said. "You actually don't want to smoke it and so it changes how you respond to the cigarette. It makes it less rewarding and that motivationally drives you away from the cigarette."
The researchers are collecting data that will be useful in creating a larger clinical trial, he said. Currently, there are products on the market that use scheduled smoking techniques. One is a small plastic computerized pack called the Smart Pack; another computerized product is called Life Signs and is the size of a credit card.
It will take Grobe and the other KU researchers a few more years before their software hits the market. For now, Grobe said he is more concerned with determining the basic science behind the scheduled smoking approach.
"There are existing products on the market, but we're trying to figure out how this works so we can better design it," he said.
While previous research has shown the success of scheduled smoking routines, Grobe said he knows they aren't for all smokers. In fact, different approaches -- whether that's the patch, nicotine gum, inhalers or nasal sprays -- can be effective for different people.
What's important is to keep searching for an approach that works best for you, he said.
"Don't give up if one approach doesn't work," Grobe said. "Try them and see which works best for you and then go with that one. And by doing that choice procedure, you actually increase the overall chance of success."
Grobe recommends the Web site http://www.tobacco.org as a good resource for people trying to stop smoking.
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