Rajani Nikita B, Mastellos Nikolaos, Filippidis Filippos T
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
JMIR Serious Games. 2021 Apr 27;9(2):e27290. doi: 10.2196/27290.
The proportion of smokers making quit attempts and the proportion of smokers successfully quitting have been decreasing over the past few years. Previous studies have shown that smokers with high self-efficacy and motivation to quit have an increased likelihood of quitting and staying quit. Consequently, further research on strategies that can improve the self-efficacy and motivation of smokers seeking to quit could lead to substantially higher cessation rates. Some studies have found that gamification can positively impact the cognitive components of behavioral change, including self-efficacy and motivation. However, the impact of gamification in the context of smoking cessation and mobile health has been sparsely investigated.
This study aims to examine the association between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and frequency of use of gamification features embedded in smoking cessation apps on self-efficacy and motivation to quit smoking.
Participants were assigned to use 1 of the 2 mobile apps for a duration of 4 weeks. App-based questionnaires were provided to participants before app use and 2 weeks and 4 weeks after they started using the app. Gamification was quantitatively operationalized based on the Cugelman gamification framework and concepts from the technology acceptance model. The mean values of perceived frequency, ease of use, and usefulness of gamification features were calculated at midstudy and end-study. Two linear regression models were used to investigate the impact of gamification on self-efficacy and motivation to quit.
A total of 116 participants completed the study. The mean self-efficacy increased from 37.38 (SD 13.3) to 42.47 (SD 11.5) points and motivation to quit increased from 5.94 (SD 1.4) to 6.32 (SD 1.7) points after app use. Goal setting was perceived to be the most useful gamification feature, whereas sharing was perceived to be the least useful. Participants self-reported that they used the progress dashboards the most often, whereas they used the sharing feature the least often. The average perceived frequency of gamification features was statistically significantly associated with change in self-efficacy (β=3.35; 95% CI 0.31-6.40) and change in motivation to quit (β=.54; 95% CI 0.15-0.94) between baseline and end-study.
Gamification embedded in mobile apps can have positive effects on self-efficacy and motivation to quit smoking. The findings of this study can provide important insights for tobacco control policy makers, mobile app developers, and smokers seeking to quit.
在过去几年中，尝试戒烟的吸烟者比例以及成功戒烟的吸烟者比例一直在下降。先前的研究表明，自我效能感高且有戒烟动机的吸烟者戒烟并保持戒烟状态的可能性更大。因此，进一步研究能够提高寻求戒烟的吸烟者自我效能感和动机的策略，可能会大幅提高戒烟率。一些研究发现，游戏化可以对行为改变的认知成分产生积极影响，包括自我效能感和动机。然而，游戏化在戒烟和移动健康背景下的影响尚未得到充分研究。
本研究旨在探讨戒烟应用程序中嵌入的游戏化功能的感知有用性、感知易用性和使用频率与戒烟自我效能感和动机之间的关联。
参与者被分配使用两款移动应用程序中的一款，为期4周。在应用程序使用前以及开始使用应用程序2周和4周后，向参与者提供基于应用程序的问卷。游戏化是根据库格尔曼游戏化框架和技术接受模型的概念进行定量操作的。在研究中期和末期计算游戏化功能的感知频率、易用性和有用性的平均值。使用两个线性回归模型来研究游戏化对自我效能感和戒烟动机的影响。
共有116名参与者完成了研究。应用程序使用后，自我效能感的平均值从37.38（标准差13.3）分提高到42.47（标准差11.5）分，戒烟动机从5.94（标准差1.4）分提高到6.32（标准差1.7）分。目标设定被认为是最有用的游戏化功能，而分享被认为是最没用的。参与者自我报告称，他们最常使用进度仪表盘，而最少使用分享功能。在基线和研究末期之间，游戏化功能的平均感知频率与自我效能感的变化（β=3.35；95%置信区间0.31-6.40）和戒烟动机的变化（β=0.54；95%置信区间0.15-0.94）在统计学上显著相关。
移动应用程序中嵌入的游戏化可以对戒烟的自我效能感和动机产生积极影响。本研究结果可为烟草控制政策制定者、移动应用程序开发者以及寻求戒烟的吸烟者提供重要见解。
