New Studies Find Smoking Cessation Rates Double With Counselling And Free Nicotine Replacement Therapy

According to two new studies in the December issue of Tobacco Control, a peer-reviewed publication of the British Medical Journal, increasing the level of smoking cessation helplines and offering free nicotine patches are a successful and cost-effective way to reduce smoking rates. Both studies were conducted by researchers at Kaiser Permanente's Centref or Health Research in Portland and by the Oregon Health Department and Free & Clear in Seattle, a phone-based tobacco treatment programme.

One study found that the number of callers to the Oregon Tobacco Quitline increased from 6,426 to 13,646 annually, and their quit rates nearly doubled when Oregon became the first state in the country to promote Quitline services by combining one 30 minute telephone counselling session with a free two week supply of Nicotine Replacement Therapy using earned or unpaid media to increase calls from smokers.

"Smoking is the single most preventable cause of premature death and disease in the United States, with more than 430,000 Americans dying from smoking each year. The study shows that offering free nicotine replacement therapy as part of Quitline counselling can dramatically increase the number of smokers who quit and reduce the average cost per quit, " said Jeffrey Fellows, PhD, lead author and an investigator at Kaiser Permanente's CHR.

The second study looked at 4,600 smokers and is the largest randomised trial ever conducted on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of alternative Quitline services and polices. Smokers in the study were randomly assigned to one of six levels of services when they called the Oregon Tobacco Quitline: brief counselling (one 15-minute call), moderate counselling (one 30-minute call and one follow-up call), or intensive counselling (one 30-minute call and four follow-up calls), all with or without NRT.

More than 21 percent of the smokers quit after receiving intensive counselling plus NRT, compared to 11.7 percent of the smokers who quit after brief counselling with no NRT. The study also found that satisfaction with Quitline services also increased with the more intense levels of service, rising to 92.5 percent satisfaction from 53.9 percent from those who just received brief counselling.