In yet more dismal news from the smoking front, researchers at Cambridge University have found that, compared to standardized feedback, tailored online advice may be no better at helping smokers quit.
The study, published in the journal Addiction, included over 1,700 smokers who were randomly assigned to receive either standardized advice on smoking cessation from a non-profit website entitled QUIT, or an individualized version developed according to participants answers to a questionnaire. Yet the results for both groups were identical: 9 percent of smokers reported that they were smoke-free for the first three months.
And, while the researchers concluded that their study adds information to this emerging picture of individualized smoking-cessation assistance, they also acknowledge that their approach wasn t interactive enough.
Dr. Ross, however, has his own take on the study: This is another in a long list of similar papers documenting the ineffectiveness of currently-approved cessation methods, he says. This study merely showed that both the individual approach and the one-size-fits-all approach failed miserably. It s important to note that smokers can be successful in quitting. However, it often takes many attempts over a period of years. If evidence-based treatments were adhered to, harm reduction methods would be among the first-line approaches, as they promise to be much more effective than the patches and drugs we now have.
And, while a variety of quit aids do exist for smokers eager to kick the habit, a recent blog post by ACSH advisor Dr. Michael Siegel, professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, points out that, despite the variety, their success rates are equally low.
Dr. Siegel discusses a recent study showing that quit rates were similar between a group of smokers given the drug Chantix (varenicline) and another given nicotine patches. The results? A one-year cessation rate of just 6.5 percent for Chantix and 7.6 percent for NRT.
So how is it that these findings, published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, contrast sharply with another clinical trial, which found that one year-cessation rates were 26 percent and 20 percent for Chantix and NRT, respectively? While the success rates in this study were much higher, it s important to note that, in this instance, the study subjects were followed more carefully and started out highly motivated. In contrast, participants in the first study were treated much more like typical outpatients are.
Both Dr. Siegel and all of us here at ACSH find these results troubling. It's especially worrisome that government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA fail to accurately convey this type of critical information to the public, especially to smokers who wish to quit. Rather, the official policy continues to be: Stick to the FDA approved products. Ultimately, it s a policy that amounts to little more than a platitude. Quit or die,say these officials, rather than truthfully telling smokers about tobacco harm reduction.
As we often note, the smokeless tobacco product known as snus has been shown to significantly help Swedish male smokers to quit cigarettes. Yet American organizations continue to simply ignore those data.