Quit Genius announces randomized-controlled trial results revealing smoking quit rates of 52%

LONDON, Oct. 9, 2020 — Results from the latest Quit Genius clinical trial, published in JMIR Mental Health on October 6, 2020, reveal a 52% quit rate at 4-weeks for participants using the Quit Genius solution to quit smoking. The study demonstrated that participants given Quit Genius had a significantly higher quit rate than participants utilizing the United Kingdom’s typical first-line care for smoking cessation. The trial was conducted as a two-arm, parallel group, randomized controlled trial whereby participants were given access to Quit Genius or the typical first-line care for smoking cessation. Participants were contacted four weeks after their quit date to test the effectiveness of Quit Genius’ solution.

The study was the largest reported full-scale randomized controlled trial of any digital therapeutic program for smoking cessation, including carbon monoxide validation of smoking outcomes.

“Utilizing a randomized-controlled trial design allows us to distinguish between the causal effect of treatment, placebo, and underlying differences in propensity to quit in the study population,” explained Quit Genius clinical research lead, Jamie Webb.

Quit Genius demonstrated a quit rate comparable with high-intensity face-to-face smoking cessation programs utilized by healthcare services. In addition to an industry leading quit rate of 52%. The trial also revealed:

• 96% of carbon monoxide readings matched the self-report of smoking abstinence, affirming that participants were telling the truth.
• Participants that did not manage to quit, on average reduced their cigarette use by 48%
• Self-efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation and behavior and is a robust indicator of future successful smoking abstinence. This study found Quit Genius to be significantly better than usual care in improving the self-efficacy of participants.

“Digital, remote-first programs like Quit Genius allow smokers to access gold-standard support without seeing a counselor in person, something that has become crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Yusuf Sherwani, Quit Genius Co-Founder and CEO. “While there have been great strides in the adoption of digital health, the industry faces a credibility crisis due to the lack of high-quality peer-reviewed research that back up many of the healthcare claims. As a physician-led organization, we have made creating a robust research pipeline a cornerstone of our mission.”