Telegram Messenger Support for Smoking Cessation After Heart Attack

Summary

This randomized controlled trial will evaluate whether a 6-month behavioral intervention delivered via Telegram messenger increases smoking cessation rates in patients after myocardial infarction (MI).

Adult smokers hospitalized with acute MI who regularly use Telegram will be randomly assigned to either:

* INTERVENTION GROUP: Standard care plus a 6-month Telegram chatbot program providing personalized motivational messages, cognitive-behavioral techniques for craving management, and relapse prevention support.
* CONTROL GROUP: Standard care (routine physician advice to quit smoking) plus basic surveys via Telegram without therapeutic content.

The primary outcome is 30-day point prevalence abstinence at 6 months, verified by blinded telephone interview with participant and corroborating report from a close relative. Secondary outcomes include changes in cigarette consumption, nicotine dependence, motivation, and intervention engagement metrics.

This study addresses the critical gap in smoking cessation support after hospital discharge and could provide evidence for a scalable digital health solution in cardiac secondary prevention.

Conditions

• Myocardial Infarction (MI)
• Tobacco Use
• Smoking Cessation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Telegram-based Smoking Cessation Support

A 6-month behavioral intervention delivered via a Telegram chatbot. The intervention includes personalized daily motivational messages, cognitive-behavioral techniques for craving management, access to an SOS/craving support button, weekly check-ins, and relapse prevention protocols. Content is tailored based on user responses to questionnaires (Fagerström Test, Importance/Confidence scales) and engagement metrics.

OTHER

Standard Care (in control arm)

Routine physician advice to quit smoking provided upon hospital discharge. This represents the current standard of care in the participating clinical centers.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• ITMO University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mikhail Kuznetsov, MD · Ulyanovsk Regional Clinical Hospital

• Dmitry Sergeev, PhD · ITMO University

• Artemiy Okhotin, MPH · ITMO University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-07-27

Primary Completion

2027-04-27

Completion

2027-08-01

Countries

• Russia

Study Locations