[Use of medication in combination with a modern group programme for smoking cessation]

This study examined the acceptance, use and -adherence with regard to stop-smoking medication in addition to a smoking cessation programme. In a multi-centre field study with quasi-experimental control group design, the participants of a smoking cessation programme were asked about their smoking behaviour at the beginning and at the end of the course. A sample of 1 319 participants was contacted via telephone one year after the end of the course. Among the 1 052 participants, who could be interviewed, 312 subjects (29.7%) reported to have used stop-smoking medication while 85.2% of the medication users preferred nicotine replacement therapy. The objective medication adherence was 13.2%. 79.3% of the medication users believed that they had used the medication adherently. There were no significant differences between participants who started use of medication and non-users (long-term abstinence rate: no medication 34.6% vs. medication 31.7%; p=0.34). The outcome of a modern smoking cessation group programme could not be improved by providing additional stop-smoking medication. This finding and the lack of medication adherence raise doubts about the effectiveness of offering stop-smoking medication in addition to an intensive cognitive-behavioural-based smoking cessation programme that focusses on behavioural changes.