Grant: Project Grant

Varenicline is a smoking cessation medication that helps people quit smoking tobacco. When taken correctly, it the most efficacious medication available in Canada to help people stop smoking. However, many people do not take the medication as prescribed, and this decreases their chances to successfully quit smoking. Several studies have shown that people are more likely to take varenicline as prescribed if they are given information on: how to take the medication; what to expect from taking the medication; and are helped when they have side effects (e.g. nausea). Providing these supports through phone and text messages has proven to be successful, but expensive. We have developed ChatV- a chatbot (a software application that can simulate a conversation with a user through messaging applications, websites and mobile apps) that economically provides these supports. Forty people have used the chatbot and have found it useful. We now want to see if it helps people take varenicline as prescribed. People who smoke and want to quit will be assigned to either Group 1 or Group 2. People in Group 1 will receive varenicline for 12 weeks and the usual instructions from their healthcare provider, and people in Group 2 will receive varenicline for 12 weeks, the usual instructions from their healthcare provider, and the support of ChatV. After 12 weeks, we will compare how many patients in each group took their medication as prescribed and how many people from each group quit smoking. In addition, we will interview healthcare providers to understand if they would recommend the chatbot to their patients and if not why and what supports they would need. The information from this study will help decide if this is a good solution to help people adhere to their medication regimen or not.