Key Takeaways
Smokers are better able to quit if they have support from specialistsThey had a 32% quit rate at six months, compared to 20% for people who had phone-based supportBoth groups received either nicotine replacement therapy or medication
TUESDAY, Jan. 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — It takes a village to help a smoker quit.
And a new study published recently in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that smokers had a nearly doubled success rate quitting when supported by an integrated approach that included medication and personal counseling.
“Our study demonstrates that providing access to effective medications and trained tobacco cessation specialists offers the greatest chance at successfully quitting and, hopefully, avoiding the potential of lung cancer,” principal investigator Paul Cinciripini, executive director of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Treatment Program, said in a news release from the college.
Lung cancer is the top cancer killer in the U.S., accounting for one in five cancer-related deaths, researchers said in background notes.
Tobacco use is responsible for 85% of lung cancer cases and contributes to nearly 30% of all cancer-related deaths, researchers added.
The average smoker requires several attempts before they’re able to break their nicotine addiction and quit, researchers said.
For this study, researchers recruited a group of 630 smokers between 2017 and 2021. The smokers were at least 50, and smoked an average 20 cigarettes a day.
The smokers were randomly assigned to one of three groups, each containing 210 people.
One group was provided nicotine replacement therapy or medication and access to phone-based support. The second received the same, only prescribed by a lung cancer screening doctor.
The third group received nicotine replacement therapy or medication, but instead of phone support had access to counseling provided by a team of specialists and physicians.
The integrated care group had the highest quit rate after three months, about 37%, compared to 27% in the group prescribed treatment by a lung cancer screening doc and 21% to people with quitline support.
That held true after six months as well — 32% for integrated care, nearly 28% for the lung cancer screening group, and 20% for the quitline group.
“Facilities equipped to provide dedicated and integrated care should prioritize doing so to offer patients the best opportunity for smoking cessation and improved health outcomes,” Cinciripini said.
“Given our results, it is conceivable that this approach could also be highly effective outside a screening environment, such as post-traumatic stress clinics and among patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease or diabetes,” Cinciripini concluded.
More information
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on how to quit smoking.
SOURCE: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, news release, Jan. 13, 2024
What This Means For You
People interested in quitting smoking should talk with their doctor about medications and counseling that could support them.
