Telegram Messenger Support for Smoking Cessation After Heart Attack

NCT07230249 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: TELEGRAM-MI
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 142
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief 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

Keywords

Telegram; Chatbot; Digital Health; Behavioral Intervention; Secondary Prevention; Randomized Controlled Trial; Cardiac Rehabilitation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• 30-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA)

  Proportion of participants who report abstinence from smoking for the past 30 days or more, verified by both participant self-report AND corroborating report from a close relative or cohabiting person during a telephone interview conducted by a blinded assessor. A positive outcome is recorded ONLY if both sources confirm abstinence. Participants with missing data (e.g., lost to follow-up) will be considered smokers in the primary analysis (intention-to-treat).

  6 months

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• 7-day point prevalence abstinence (7-day PPA)

  1 month and 3 months

• Change in cigarette consumption

  Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months

• Score on the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND)

  Baseline and 6 months

• Motivation to quit (Importance and Confidence Scales)

  Baseline and 6 months

• Participant engagement with the Telegram bot

  6 months

Study Arms (2)

Telegram Bot Intervention Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants receive standard care PLUS the 6-month behavioral intervention delivered via the Telegram chatbot.

Behavioral: Telegram-based Smoking Cessation Support

Standard Care Control Group

OTHER

Participants receive standard care only. They are connected to the Telegram bot but only complete baseline and follow-up surveys without receiving any active smoking cessation content.

Other: Standard Care (in control arm)

Interventions

Telegram-based Smoking Cessation Support BEHAVIORAL

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.

Telegram Bot Intervention Group

Standard Care (in control arm) OTHER

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

Standard Care Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Willing and able to provide written informed consent.
• Age 18 years or older.
• Hospitalization with a confirmed diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (MI), including both ST-elevation MI (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation MI (NSTEMI).
• Current smoker at the time of index MI: self-reported smoking of at least one cigarette per day in the month prior to hospitalization.
• Regular user of the Telegram messenger application (app installed on a personal smartphone).
• Possession of a smartphone with internet access and a valid phone number.
• Ability and willingness to provide contact information for a close relative or cohabiting person who can verify smoking status at follow-up.

You may not qualify if:

• Smoking cessation more than 1 month prior to the index MI hospitalization.
• Physical or cognitive impairment that prevents the use of a smartphone (e.g., severe visual/hearing impairment, inability to read or respond to messages).
• Inability to read and understand the Russian language fluently.
• Comorbid condition with a life expectancy of less than 1 year.
• Active severe mental illness (e.g., psychosis, severe untreated depression) that would impede understanding of the protocol or adherence.
• Unwillingness or inability to provide contact details for a close relative for outcome verification.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• ITMO University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Ulyanovsk Regional Clinical Hospital

Ulyanovsk, Ulyanovsk Oblast, 432000, Russia

Location

Related Publications (6)

• Olano-Espinosa E, Avila-Tomas JF, Minue-Lorenzo C, Matilla-Pardo B, Serrano Serrano ME, Martinez-Suberviola FJ, Gil-Conesa M, Del Cura-Gonzalez I; Dejal@ Group. Effectiveness of a Conversational Chatbot (Dejal@bot) for the Adult Population to Quit Smoking: Pragmatic, Multicenter, Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial in Primary Care. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2022 Jun 27;10(6):e34273. doi: 10.2196/34273.

  PMID: 35759328 RESULT

• Bricker JB, Sullivan BM, Mull KE, Lavista-Ferres J, Santiago-Torres M. Efficacy of a conversational chatbot for cigarette smoking cessation: Protocol of the QuitBot full-scale randomized controlled trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2024 Dec;147:107727. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2024.107727. Epub 2024 Oct 28.

  PMID: 39490766 RESULT

• Hayrumyan V, Harutyunyan A, Harutyunyan T. Smoking cessation after myocardial infarction: Findings from a cross-sectional survey in Armenia. Tob Prev Cessat. 2023 Dec 11;9:36. doi: 10.18332/tpc/174359. eCollection 2023.

  PMID: 38090104 RESULT

• Gerber Y, Rosen LJ, Goldbourt U, Benyamini Y, Drory Y; Israel Study Group on First Acute Myocardial Infarction. Smoking status and long-term survival after first acute myocardial infarction a population-based cohort study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009 Dec 15;54(25):2382-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2009.09.020.

  PMID: 20082928 RESULT

• Leosdottir M, Warjerstam S, Michelsen HO, Schlyter M, Hag E, Wallert J, Larsson M. Improving smoking cessation after myocardial infarction by systematically implementing evidence-based treatment methods. Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 12;12(1):642. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04634-5.

  PMID: 35022490 RESULT

• Wilson K, Gibson N, Willan A, Cook D. Effect of smoking cessation on mortality after myocardial infarction: meta-analysis of cohort studies. Arch Intern Med. 2000 Apr 10;160(7):939-44. doi: 10.1001/archinte.160.7.939.

  PMID: 10761958 RESULT

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Myocardial Infarction; Tobacco Use; Smoking Cessation

Interventions

Standard of Care

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Myocardial Ischemia; Heart Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Infarction; Ischemia; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Necrosis; Behavior; Health Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Quality Indicators, Health Care; Quality of Health Care; Health Services Administration; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation

Study Officials

• Mikhail Kuznetsov, MD

  Ulyanovsk Regional Clinical Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Dmitry Sergeev, PhD

  ITMO University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Artemiy Okhotin, MPH

  ITMO University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Mikhail A. Kuznetsov, MD

CONTACT

+79170610352; mihkuzn@gmail.com

Dmitry V. Sergeev, PhD

CONTACT

+79802128785; ser.dmitry.v@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The outcome assessor conducting the 6-month telephone interview to ascertain smoking status is blinded to the participant's group assignment. The assessor has no access to the allocation data or the participant's interaction history with the Telegram bot. Participants are not explicitly informed of their group strategy but cannot be fully blinded due to the nature of the intervention.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Chief Investigator, Cardiologist

Model Details: This is a pragmatic, randomized, controlled, superiority trial with two parallel groups.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 13, 2025
• First Posted: November 17, 2025
• Study Start: January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Last Updated: November 17, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Beginning 12 months after main results publication and ending 5 years after publication. Data will be available for this period.
• Access Criteria: Data will be available to researchers who provide a methodologically sound research proposal approved by an independent review committee. Proposals should be directed to the corresponding author. Requestors will need to sign a data access agreement specifying the purpose of analysis, commitment to secure data handling, and agreement not to attempt re-identification of participants.

Locations

RU (1)