Smokeless tobacco cessation interventions: A systematic review.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Addiction Medicine
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Smokeless tobacco (SLT) use affects 350 million globally, causing severe health issues like oral cancer.
• Cessation of SLT is crucial for public health, comparable to smoking cessation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an updated review of literature on smokeless tobacco cessation intervention studies.
• To assess the efficacy of various interventions for SLT cessation.

Main Methods:

• Extensive literature search using keywords related to SLT cessation interventions.
• Selection of 59 eligible studies.
• Assessment of intervention efficacy using reported risk ratios (RRs) and quit rates.

Main Results:

• Behavioral interventions demonstrated high efficacy, with quit rates ranging from 9-51.5% at six months.
• Telephone support and quitlines were beneficial for SLT cessation.
• Nicotine lozenges and varenicline were found to be efficacious pharmacological interventions.

Conclusions:

• Limited research exists on SLT cessation interventions, necessitating increased research, especially in high-burden, low-resource countries.
• Behavioral interventions are most suitable for low-resource settings.
• Healthcare professional training and school-based prevention programs are recommended.