EFFICACY OF THE NOVEL DIGITAL ASCURE SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM COMBININGSMARTPHONE APP AND WEB BASED MENTORING
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Ayaka Kato, MSc, , Tomoyuki Tanigawa, MD , Kohta Satake, M.D., MBA, MPH , Akihiro Nomura, MD. Ph.D *1,3ascureOutpatient service Five face-to-face clinic visits in 12-week program- burden of visit (around 70% drop out)
- mostly elderly people and men- need strong motivation to start the program
2Any solutions for busy employed people ??

“ascure” smoking cessation programThe first Japanese online smoking cessation
program developed by CureApp, Inc.

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Baseline characteristics

Problems of outpatient services in JapanThe numbers of estimated smokers: 20,000,000
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Smoking is responsible for 50,000 deaths/year

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Subgroup analysis

CAR at weeks 9 - 12

outpatient service

No. of participants

145

1,308

female sex

61 (42%)400 (30.6％）

Age

44.3

49.0

years

22.2

27.5

No. of cigarettes /day

16.5

22.8

Brinkmann Index

376

634.1

TDS

7.1

7.8

No. of SC attempted
before the trial

1.54

Years of smoking(in 2017)%%

Data driven improvement of the program
CAR at week 24

Data are n (%), mean (standard deviation), SC, smoking cessation; and TDS, Tobacco Dependence Screener

Efficacy of the program

45 ％

%

%

Adherence to the program

12 weeks 75.1%
24 weeks 62.2%

The timing of the enrollment

Keep arecordImprovement

2. Online mentoring
6-8 online interactive sessions in 24 weeks
with experienced nurses or pharmacists

Conclusion

1. Notification at an appropriate timing based on actions in the app
2. Training of the online mentors
3. Communication with the corporate health insurance societies

Number of subjects

Continuous abstinence (CA) at week 24

Possible predictors of the outcome
CAR 48.3%
Candidate predictors

3. Nicotine patch
medicine on the market was delivered to their home for assistance
The program is provided to the corporate health insurance societiesof the various leading companies.

Number of subjects

Comparison with the outpatient service

Methods

Adherence to the program
2,3

Consecutive ascure program participants from August
Paticipants2017 to April 2018(from 11 corporate health insurance societies )● “ascure” program is a feasible approach to encourage female,younger, not severe nicotine-dependent smokers

Outcomeage
Data in week 0-12sex
years of smoking
No. of cigarettes /dayBrinkmann Index
TDS
No. of SC attempted before the trial
No.of written diary
No. of report in poor physical condition
No. of avoiding environmental triggers
No. of changing behavioral patterns
No. of alternative behavior
No. of assertiveness training
No. of watched educational movies
No. of program they have learned● Evaluated the efficacy of the novel program featuring "onlinementoring", "concurrent use of applications", and "follow-up over along period of time (24 weeks)"

CA at week 24
1:success● Higher adherence to the program and longer continuous
abstinence was achieved compared to the outpatient services● No. of years of smoking and No.of written diary in week 0-12 werepossible predictors of the success in smoking cessation● Future task could be the data driven improvement of the program

0: failure (including dropout)
Variables are chosen by AIC

Contact info
Tomoyuki Tanigawa

Ayaka Kato

Outcomes- baseline smoking behaviors by self-report- application usage through 24 weeksSalivary cotinine testing validated continuous
abstinence rate (CAR) at weeks 9-12 and 20-24%

Success of smoking cessation
AnalysisDefinition
week 12week 24

multivariable logistic regression

ascureCA at weeks 9-12
salivary cotinine test
CA at weeks 20-24
salivary cotinine test

Median 43 times(Every other day)55 ％Exercise

Data

Median 22 years

No. of written diary

1. Smartphone appappropriate guidance based on behavioral
therapy (BT) anytime via app
Learning

1,5,6

CureApp Institute, Karuizawa, Japan
CureApp Inc, Tokyo, Japan
Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University ofTokyo, Tokyo,
St.Luke's International University Graduate school of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan
Innovative Clinical Research Center, Kanazawa University (iCREK), Kanazawa, Japan
Department of Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate
School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan

outpatient service
CA at weeks 9-12
CO <8ppm
CA at weeks 12-24(self report only)

Predictors

OR95％ CIP valueyears of smoking

1.021

1.006 - 1.035

0.006

Kohta Satake

Akihiro Nomura* attending

No. of SC attempted
before the trial

0.954

0.887 - 1.026

0.204

ayaka.kato@partner.cureapp.jp

akihiro.nomura@partner.cureapp.jp
Sponsored by

info@cureapp.institutein those who continue the program until week 12 or 24

No.of written diary
No. of report in poor
physical condition
TDS

1.015

1.010 - 1.020<0.0001

www.facebook.com/CureAppInc/@CureApp_Inc

0.988

0.974 - 1.001

0.073
https://cureapp.co.jp/en/

0.954

0.897 - 1.015

0.137

References1.
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%
OR: Odds ratio CI: Confidence interval

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Ikeda N. PLoS Medicine 2012
Report on the Efficacy of Smoking Cessation Treatment Based on Nicotine Dependency Management Fee. Ministryof Health, Labour and Welfare. Japan; 2017
Report on the Efficacy of Smoking Cessation Treatment Based on Nicotine Dependency Management Fee. Ministryof Health, Labour and Welfare. Japan; 2008