Discontinuation of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Among Smoking-Cessation Attempters

Background Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) doubles successful quitting, but more than half of NRT users do not comply with optimal treatment regimens. Methods From the 2005 Colorado state tobacco survey, quit attempters who utilized NRT (N=366) were analyzed in spring 2007. Descriptive and regres...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of preventive medicine 2008-03, Vol.34 (3), p.212-215
Main Authors: Burns, Emily K., MD, MSPH, Levinson, Arnold H., PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Cessation
Colorado
Data Collection
Discontinued
Female
Humans
Internal Medicine
Male
Middle Aged
Nicotine - therapeutic use
Nicotine replacement therapy
Nicotinic Agonists - therapeutic use
Patient Compliance
Smokers
Smoking
Smoking Cessation
Tobacco Use Disorder - drug therapy
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Summary:Background Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) doubles successful quitting, but more than half of NRT users do not comply with optimal treatment regimens. Methods From the 2005 Colorado state tobacco survey, quit attempters who utilized NRT (N=366) were analyzed in spring 2007. Descriptive and regression analyses were used to examine reasons for discontinuing NRT, length of time on NRT, and quit intentions. Results The reasons for discontinuing NRT were resuming smoking (34%), side effects (17%), NRT not helping with quitting (14%), quitting smoking (10%), and cost (5%). Poverty, age, and non-Latino minority status were associated with reasons for discontinuation other than quitting smoking. Having side effects was associated with a short duration of NRT use and 95% lower odds of intending to quit in the next month. Conclusions In the first population-level study examining reasons for discontinuing NRT, general-population smokers who initiate NRT use when attempting to quit are highly likely to discontinue NRT prematurely. Age and culturally-appropriate medication management interventions may increase NRT compliance and improve cessation outcomes.
ISSN:0749-3797
1873-2607
DOI:10.1016/j.amepre.2007.11.010