[Care results in a specialist stop-smoking unit]

To present the short, medium and long-term results of a stop-smoking clinic after 5 years of experience. The clinic was designed following the SEPAR Recommendations.

Two types of clinic protocols have been applied: individual and group. Both included the offer of a combination of psychological intervention and pharmacological treatment. The programme included 10 visits over 12 months. The pharmacological treatment consisted of: nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or bupropion or varenicline or a combination. The psychological intervention consisted of: self-monitoring, copying skills, cognitive-behavioural therapy and social intra-treatment support. The treatment was always offered for free.

A total of 3920 patients were seen in the clinic. These patients made 21,418 clinic visits. The analysis was performed on the 1850 smokers who attended the clinic consecutively. Their mean age was 47.83 (+/-11.03) and the mean fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND)-score was 6.56 (+/-2.41). 55.9% patients received NRT, 22.8% bupropion, 18.9% varenicline and 2.4% did not receive any pharmacological treatment. Continuous abstinence rates at 6 and 12 months follow up were 58.5% and 54.9%, respectively. These abstinence rates at 36 and 57 months follow up were 42% and 35%, respectively. The cost in medication for each patient was 118 euros and the cost in medication for a successful abstainer at 6, 12, 36, and 57 months of follow up were 202, 215, 281 and 338 euros, respectively.

A stop-smoking clinic that is designed according to SEPAR Recommendations is effective and has a good cost/effective ratio.