The Effect of Using of Social Media on Smoking Cessation Stages and Processes Among Health Care Providers

Abstract

Introduction

In recent years, social media has become a promising tool for promoting health behavior change among young adults globally. The widespread use of social media among health care providers presents a unique opportunity to deliver tailored cessation support and information. Despite the high prevalence of smoking in this group, there's a lack of research on the effectiveness of social media-based interventions.

Methods

“The study employed a quasi-experimental single group pretest-posttest design using Facebook as the intervention platform, guided by the Transtheoretical Model”. The study included 103 health care provider recruited from a middle eastern hospitals who volunteered to participate.

Results

The majority of participants began smoking before age 18, with family smoking prevalent in the sample. All participants were in the precontemplation stage before the intervention. Post-intervention, over 77% progressed to a higher stage of change. The processes of change (POC) scores increased by an average of 2.23 units, with a mean difference of 1.26 (95% CI = 0.934–1.599), indicating a strong association between POC changes and stage progression. This suggests the intervention's effectiveness in supporting smoking cessation efforts.

Conclusion

The use of social media to quit smoking among health care providers was very effective in improving the transitional stages of change. Therefore, it is essential to use social media to help this group to quit smoking as well as to conduct future studies using a more diverse range of participants.