Effectiveness of nicotine patches in a workplace smoking cessation program. An eleven-month follow-up study

Transdermal nicotine patches are widely prescribed as part of smoking cessation programs, but their efficacy beyond 6 months is not well established. We evaluated the efficacy of a 70-day treatment regimen among 75 subjects in an industrial setting where follow-up was conducted for 11 months. The median time free of cigarettes was 73 days, and the overall smoking abstinence rate was 9% after 11 months of follow-up. Smoking abstinence was significantly higher among those subjects who completed the full course of treatment than among those who did not (25 vs 6%, respectively). Smoking abstinence was also higher among subjects who started smoking after age 17 than among those who started at younger ages and was higher among male than female subjects. We conclude that transdermal nicotine patches are of limited efficacy in achieving long-term smoking cessation and that the relative costs and benefits of this treatment are not adequately specified.