QuitBet Phase II: A Digital Social Game That Pays You to Stop Smoking

WayBetter

Status: Completed

Conditions: Smoking Cessation

Treatments: Behavioral: smoking cessation resource list; Behavioral: leaderboard and social feed; Behavioral: contingency management (deposit contract)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT05075213

QuitBet Phase II

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of QuitBet, a digital contingency management program for smoking cessation. QuitBet combines social gaming elements with participant-funded financial incentives in the form of a deposit contract. QuitBet "players" deposit (called the "bet") a specified amount of their own money into the game's "pot." All "winners" who achieve the game's goal split the pot equally, such that their bet is fully refunded plus they receive extra money from the forfeited bets of players who did not meet the goal. Participants (N = 550) will be randomly assigned to QuitBet or QuitBet-NS (deposit contract only, no social elements). All participants will be offered a second game after their first game (up to 8 weeks total game duration) and will be asked to complete a survey after each game and at 1 and 4 months after the end of the second game (3 and 6 months after the start of their first game). The study will compare QuitBet vs. QuitBet-NS on smoking behavior outcomes and examine potential mediators of outcomes such as motivation, engagement, and satisfaction.

Enrollment: 246 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Sufficient English fluency to complete study procedures
2. At least 21 years of age
3. U.S. resident of any state
4. currently smokes at least 5 cigarettes per day
5. has an email address
6. has a mailing address at which they can receive packages
7. owns an Internet-connected Apple iPhone or Android smartphone that is compatible with QuitBet
8. willing to deposit $30 via PayPal or a credit card
9. willing to receive financial incentives earned during QuitBet via PayPal or in a paper check sent by mail

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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246 participants in 2 patient groups

QuitBet

Experimental group

Description:

QuitBet is a quit smoking game delivered via a smartphone application that lasts 28 days and includes contingency management in the form of a deposit contract, integrated exhaled breath carbon monoxide (CO) testing, a social feed on which "players" can post and respond to messages, and a "leaderboard" that displays players' status (i.e., whether they are still eligible to win). A game host will post educational information about smoking cessation and serve as a discussion moderator. Participants will deposit ("bet") $30 of their own money at the start of the game. Participants who submit a CO test that is 6ppm or lower (indicating no smoking) on at least 24 of the 26 days between day 3-28 will be declared winners and will split the pot of money that was deposited. All participants who submit at least 21 CO tests during the 28 day game, regardless of the CO test result, will be entered into a lottery to win a prize worth $75.

Treatment:

Behavioral: contingency management (deposit contract)

Behavioral: leaderboard and social feed

QuitBet-NS (no social elements)

Active Comparator group

Description:

QuitBet-NS will include the deposit contract and integrated CO testing with identical rules to QuitBet for being a winner, the $75 raffle for submitting at least 21 CO tests, a display of the participant's daily CO test results that is updated in real time, and a game feed on which only the game host has the ability to post. Players will not be able to post on this feed or respond to the host's posts. At the beginning of the game, the host will post limited information, including a list of smoking cessation resources. QuitBet-NS will NOT include the social feed, leaderboard, or any other social features.

Treatment:

Behavioral: contingency management (deposit contract)

Behavioral: smoking cessation resource list