Background
Tobacco use is estimated to kill 7 million people a year. Nicotin
e is highly addictive, but surveys indicate that almost 70% of U
S and
UK smokers would like to stop smoking. Although many smokers
attempt to give up on their own, advice from a health professio
nal
increases the chances of quitting. As of 2016 there were 3.5 bill
ion Internet users worldwide, making the Internet a potenti
al platform
to help people quit smoking.
Objectives
To determine the effectiveness of Internet-based interventi
ons for smoking cessation, whether intervention effectivene
ss is altered by
tailoring or interactive features, and if there is a differen
ce in effectiveness between adolescents, young adults, and adu
lts.
Search methods
We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Specialised Regi
ster, which included searches of MEDLINE, Embase and
PsycINFO (through OVID). There were no restrictions placed on lan
guage, publication status or publication date. The most recent
search was conducted in August 2016.
Selection criteria
We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Participants w
ere people who smoked, with no exclusions based on age, gender
,
ethnicity, language or health status. Any type of Internet in
tervention was eligible. The comparison condition could be a no
-intervention
control, a different Internet intervention, or a non-Interne
t intervention. To be included, studies must have measured sm
oking cessation
at four weeks or longer.
Data collection and analysis
Two review authors independently assessed and extracted dat
a. We extracted and, where appropriate, pooled smoking cessat
ion outcomes
of six-month follow-up or more, reporting short-term outcomes n
arratively where longer-term outcomes were not available. We
reported
study effects as a risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI
).