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A study by Chinese researchers shows that texting could help smokers quit smoking.
    The study published in the journal PLOS Medicine on Tuesday showed that among smokers who received a 12-week-long mobile phone-based intervention, 6.5 percent stopped smoking by the end of the study.
    The researchers from the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in China said the intervention could have greater reach and higher feasibility than in-person treatments.
    It has great potential to improve population health and should be considered for large-scale use in China, according to the study.
    They conducted a randomized controlled trial across China from August 2016 to May 2017, recruiting 1,369 adult smokers. Participants were randomly assigned to a 12-week intervention consisting of either high-frequency or low-frequency messaging, or to a control group that received text messages unrelated to quitting.
    The text messages were aimed at improving self-efficacy and behavioral capability for quitting, according to the study.
    Twelve weeks later, 6.5 percent of them in the high-frequency group had quit smoking, while 6 percent in the low-frequency group had also given up the habit. 1.9 percent of people in the control group quit smoking.
    China has the highest global prevalence of cigarette smokers, accounting for more than 40 percent of the total cigarette consumption in the world.