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Discontinuation of nicotine replacement therapy among smoking-cessation attempters
Emily K Burns1, Arnold H Levinson
1University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado, USA. emily.burns@uchsc.edu
Background:
Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) doubles successful quitting, but more than half of NRT users do not comply with optimal treatment regimens.
Methods:
From the 2005 Colorado state tobacco survey, quit attempters who utilized NRT (N=366) were analyzed in spring 2007. Descriptive and regression analyses were used to examine reasons for discontinuing NRT, length of time on NRT, and quit intentions.
Results:
The reasons for discontinuing NRT were resuming smoking (34%), side effects (17%), NRT not helping with quitting (14%), quitting smoking (10%), and cost (5%). Poverty, age, and non-Latino minority status were associated with reasons for discontinuation other than quitting smoking. Having side effects was associated with a short duration of NRT use and 95% lower odds of intending to quit in the next month.
Conclusions:
In the first population-level study examining reasons for discontinuing NRT, general-population smokers who initiate NRT use when attempting to quit are highly likely to discontinue NRT prematurely. Age and culturally-appropriate medication management interventions may increase NRT compliance and improve cessation outcomes.
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