Quit smoking

INTRODUCTION: A recent meta-analysis of Internet interventions for smoking cessation found mixed evidence regarding effectiveness. One explanation may be differential use of non-assigned cessation treatments-including other Internet programs-that either amplify or mask study intervention effects. We examined the impact of non-assigned treatment use on cessation outcomes in The iQUITT Study, a randomized trial of Internet and telephone treatment for smoking cessation. METHODS: Participants were randomized to a basic Internet (BI) comparison condition (N = 675), enhanced Internet (EI: N = 651), or EI plus telephone counseling (EI+P: N = 679)...

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the only cause of mortality and morbidity with an increasing incidence. Adiponectin has recently gained the spotlight for its possible association with COPD or its exacerbation. This study evaluated the association of serum and alveolar adiponectin levels with COPD-related variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 45 COPD patients. Number of cigarettes smoked (packs), years of smoking, number of disease exacerbations per year and BMI were all recorded...

OBJECTIVES: Online Cessation Support Networks (OCSNs) are associated with increased quit success rates, but few studies have examined their use over time. We identified usage patterns in New Zealand's largest OCSN over two years and explored implications for OCSN intervention design and evaluation. METHODS: We analysed metadata relating to 133,096 OCSN interactions during 2011 and 2012. Metrics covered aggregate network activity, user posting activity and longevity, and between-user commenting...

OBJECTIVE: Smoking treatment may be improved by clarifying determinants of treatment success. Literature suggests that cognitive measures such as working memory (WM) performance are correlated with success. We hypothesized that WM performance and associated brain activity would predict treatment outcome. METHOD: Participants included 15 treatment-seeking community-recruited smokers (Mcigs/day = 20.9). Participants enrolled in a smoking-cessation program (nine psychotherapy sessions; 8 weeks of nicotine-replacement patches) and 53% successfully quit smoking...

INTRODUCTION: Gradually reducing cigarette consumption is an approach used to quit smoking, but has not been widely studied at a population level. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and demographic characteristics of U.S. adult smokers who tried to reduce to quit, and the relationship between reducing and successful quitting. METHODS: Data came from 12,571 adults in the 2010-2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey who tried to quit smoking in the past year...

BACKGROUND: Despite the established causal relationship between tobacco smoking and cancer, many cancer patients continue to smoke after diagnosis. This partly reflects ignorance of the beneficial effects of smoking cessation, even after diagnosis. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effects of continuing or quitting smoking in patients with diagnosed cancer. METHODS: The study was based on a review of medical databases (PubMed Central, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library) in the last 30 y...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Low distress tolerance is associated with difficulties quitting smoking. Mindfulness is associated with improved cessation outcomes and may be one method by which to increase distress tolerance. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness skills and distress tolerance among regular smokers. METHODS: Daily smokers (n=125; Mage=37.5, 70% male) completed self-report measures assessing smoking and emotions...

Bupropion is used clinically to treat depression and to promote smoking cessation. It is metabolized by CYP2B6 to its active metabolite hydroxybupropion, yet alterations in CYP2B6 activity have little impact on bupropion plasma levels. Furthermore, less than 10% of a bupropion dose is excreted as urinary bupropion and its characterized metabolites hydroxybupropion, threohydrobupropion, and erythrohydrobupropion, suggesting that alternative metabolic pathways may exist. In vitro data suggested CYP2C19 could metabolize bupropion...

INTRODUCTION: Active cigarette smoking has consistently been associated with depression, but little is known about the association between other cigarette smoke exposures, particularly in early life, and depression. We investigated whether exposures to maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSP) and childhood secondhand smoke (SHS) are associated with depressive symptoms in midlife. METHODS: Pregnant mothers were enrolled and were provided data on maternal smoking and other parental characteristics...

INTRODUCTION: Many young smokers underestimate their risk for becoming addicted to cigarettes. We explored whether informing light college smokers (i.e., fewer than 5 cigarettes/day) of their genetic predisposition to nicotine dependence influenced their perceived risks and worry about becoming addicted, their ability to quit (i.e., self-efficacy), their desire to quit, and smoking cessation. METHODS: College smokers (n = 142) received educational materials on mechanisms and consequences of nicotine addiction and were offered genetic susceptibility testing for nicotine dependence...

INTRODUCTION: Cigarette smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and is the main risk factor of major diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The best treatment to help smokers quit is a combination of behavioural support with pharmacotherapy. Varenicline is the newest drug on the market and has been shown to be effective in the general smoking population and in smokers with COPD. The safety profile of varenicline was initially established using standard approaches to pharmacovigilance, but postmarketing reports have raised concerns about a possible association between the use of varenicline and cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric events...

BACKGROUND: Text messaging programs on mobile phones have shown some promise in helping people quit smoking. Text2Quit is an automated, personalized, interactive mobile health program that sends text messages to offer advice, support, and reminders about quitting smoking. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of Text2Quit on biochemically confirmed repeated point prevalence abstinence in the context of an RCT conducted in the U.S. METHODS: Participants (n=503) were recruited on the Internet and randomized to receive Text2Quit or self-help material...

OBJECTIVE: The English 'stop smoking services' provide behavioural support to some 700,000 smokers annually. Success rates of the services varied considerably before 2010 and had been in slight decline so, to improve performance, a national programme of evidence-based practitioner training was developed to improve knowledge and skills-based competences. This study evaluated whether uptake of the training was associated with improvements in success rates of services. METHODS: Mean 4-week biochemically verified abstinence rates were compared for 146 (of 151) stop smoking services between 2008-10 (before roll-out of training) and 2011-13 (after roll-out), and the change in success rates for each service was regressed on to the number of practitioners per service trained in a) knowledge (online) and b) skills (face-to-face)...

Weight gain is often associated with smoking cessation and may discourage smokers from quitting. This study estimated the weight gained one year after smoking cessation and examined the risk factors associated with weight gain in order to identify socio-demographic groups at higher risk of increased weight after quitting. We analyzed data from 750 adults in two randomized controlled studies that included smokers motivated to quit and found a gradient in weight gain according to the actual duration of abstinence during follow-up...

INTRODUCTION: This study examined mediators and moderators of short-term treatment effectiveness from the iQUITT Study (Quit Using Internet and Telephone Treatment), a 3-arm randomized trial that compared an interactive smoking cessation Web site with an online social network (enhanced Internet) alone and in conjunction with proactive telephone counseling (enhanced Internet plus phone) to a static Internet comparison condition (basic Internet). METHODS: The analytic sample was N = 1,236 participants with complete 3-month data on all mediating variables...

Despite recent declines in the rates of cigarette smoking, smoking remains prevalent among individuals with lower income, less education, and those with mental illness or HIV. Exercise is promoted as an aid to smoking cessation; however, the evidence for this recommendation is equivocal. To date, the majority of studies have only examined aerobic exercise; there is a poor understanding of the mechanisms of action; and there is an under-representation of male smokers. The goal of this trial is to produce new data that will help to address each of these gaps...

BACKGROUND: Smoking during pregnancy causes many adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is effective for cessation outside pregnancy but efficacy and safety in pregnancy are unknown. We hypothesised that NRT would increase smoking cessation in pregnancy without adversely affecting infants. OBJECTIVES: To compare (1) at delivery, the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for achieving biochemically validated smoking cessation of NRT patches with placebo patches in pregnancy and (2) in infants at 2 years of age, the effects of maternal NRT patch use with placebo patch use in pregnancy on behaviour, development and disability...

IMPORTANCE: Health care systems need effective models to manage chronic diseases like tobacco dependence across transitions in care. Hospitalizations provide opportunities for smokers to quit, but research suggests that hospital-delivered interventions are effective only if treatment continues after discharge. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether an intervention to sustain tobacco treatment after hospital discharge increases smoking cessation rates compared with standard care...

PURPOSE: To review the characteristics and effects Internet-based youth smoking prevention and cessation programs. DESIGN: Systematic review of published articles in peer-reviewed journals in the past 10 years, focused on Internet-based youth smoking prevention and cessation programs. METHODS: Twelve articles were selected based on the following criteria: studies reporting the outcomes of Internet-based smoking cessation or prevention intervention programs for adolescents who are younger than 24 years...

Transdermal nicotine patch (TNP) is 1 of the most commonly used smoking cessation treatments; however, the efficacy of TNP by sex is not yet clear. The purpose of the current review was to synthesize how sex has been considered in published clinical trials of TNP for smoking cessation. The specific aims of the study were to examine the inclusion of sex in analyses of cessation outcomes, TNP-related variables (compliance, side effects), and quit-related variables (withdrawal, cravings); to review the consideration of sex-related variables (menstrual cycle phase, pregnancy); and to identify needs for future research...