Predicting smoking cessation. Who will quit with and without the nicotine patch

Abstract

Smoking status (abstinent or smoking) during the first 2 weeks of nicotine patch therapy, particularly week 2, was highly correlated with clinical outcome and can serve as a powerful predictor of smoking cessation. Early smoking behavior also predicted outcome among placebo patch users. Traditional measures of dependence are not consistently predictive of cessation success. Clinicians are advised to emphasize the importance of total abstinence after a quit attempt and to follow-up with patients within the first 2 weeks of quitting; smoking during this critical time should be assessed and treatment may be altered as appropriate.