Controlled trial for smoking cessation in a Navy shipboard population using nicotine patch, sustained-release buproprion, or both

This study reports an experimental, randomized controlled clinical trial comparing three treatments for smoking cessation: sustained-release bupropion, nicotine patch, and combination nicotine and bupropion, to a counseling-only control group (N = 140), for smoking sailors aboard seven Navy ships. The purpose was to determine the effectiveness of different pharmcotherapies used in smoking cessation programs. Continuous abstinence was defined as the percentage of subjects who did not smoke since the quit date assessed at 6 and 12 months and having an expired carbon monoxide concentration of <10 ppm at educational sessions 2, 3, and 4. Nine subjects dropped out of the study, and 40 subjects were lost to follow-up. Eleven percent (15/140 subjects) had continuous abstinence at 12 months. The abstinence rates at 12 months were 47% in the control group, as compared with 27% in the nicotine patch/bupropion group, 20% in the nicotine patch group, and 7% in the bupropion group.