Practice Quit Attempts: Scoping Review of a Novel Intervention Strategy

Fostering practice quit attempts (PQAs)--that is, attempts to not smoke for a few hours or days, without pressure to permanently quit--represents a potential means to engage more individuals who smoke in efforts to change their smoking. However, little is known about interventions designed to foster PQAs. We aimed to identify the available evidence on PQA-focused intervention strategies and their impact on quit attempt and cessation outcomes.

We conducted a scoping review of behavioral and pharmacological treatment studies targeting PQAs among adult cigarette smokers.

The systematic literature search yielded 3,879 articles, and the full-text review was narrowed to 86. Twenty-three studies were deemed relevant, and 5 were added through other sources, yielding 28 studies total. Fifteen studies included behavioral intervention techniques focused on the development and rehearsal of individualized coping skills, whereas eight studies provided brief advice/instruction. More than half of the PQA-focused interventions incorporated sampling of nicotine replacement products, through either guided or ad lib use. Five studies reported on PQA-focused digital health interventions that prompted brief abstinence challenges. Of eight large-scale controlled trials, six demonstrated an increase in quit attempt and cessation outcomes among the PQA-focused intervention group.

Fostering PQAs through behavioral and pharmacological interventions offers a promising technique for cessation induction that warrants future research.