what if taking care of a dragon was the solution to quitting smoking?

What if taking care of a dragon was the solution to quitting smoking? That’s what a new study led by a researcher at the Boston University School of Public Health suggests.

A mobile game integrated into a withdrawal application

Published in the Journal of Medical Internet Researchthe study evaluated the effectiveness ofInner Dragonand jhad integrated into the smoking cessation application Smoke Free (Google Play or App Store), which has more than seven million downloads. In this interactive gameusers are encouraged to take care of a customizable pet dragonthe growth of which reflects the person’s progress towards quitting smoking. The application also offers tools to help you quit smoking.

Apps offering smoking cessation support can be effective alternatives, especially to clinical treatment, but user engagement is key to this success. This is why taking care of some sort of pet could be the solution.

Encouraging results

To carry out this study, the researchers based themselves on the cases of 479 Americans who downloaded the application Smoke Free and wishing to quit smoking within seven days. Some of the participants only had access to the “basic” features of the smoking cessation program, which included support tools, suggestions, etc.

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