Symptoms of tobacco withdrawal from total cigarette cessation versus partial cigarette reduction

The study examined the occurrence of acute tobacco withdrawal symptoms among three methods of smoking cessation. Smokers were asked to smoke ad lib for 3 days and then randomly assigned to one of three groups for the next 5 days: (1) total cigarette cessation; (2) 50% reduction of number of cigarettes; or (3) reduction of nicotine yield of cigarettes. Of the 13 measures of tobacco withdrawal, six of the measures showed significant differences in severity of withdrawal symptoms between the total cessation group and partial reduction groups. There were no significant differences in severity of withdrawal between the two partial reduction groups.