Effect of Long-term Nicotine Replacement Therapy vs Standard Smoking Cessation for Smokers With Chronic Lung Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

To compare the effect of LT-NRT vs standard smoking cessation (SSC) on exposure to cigarette smoke, harm related to smoking, and cessation among smokers with COPD.

Why It Was Studied

Smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have particular difficulty quitting.

Who Took Part

The study group was 198 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

This unblinded, randomized clinical trial recruited smokers who self-reported a diagnosis of COPD at any level of readiness to quit from May 23, 2014, through November 30, 2015.

Patients were recruited at a clinical research unit of an academic medical center.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized.

Because people in this Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

The 12-month follow-up was completed December 6, 2016.

Analysis was based on intention to treat and performed from March 8 through November 30, 2017.

Standard smoking cessation treatment included 10 weeks of NRT and 4 follow-up counseling sessions for those willing to make a quit attempt.

Long-term NRT included 12 months of NRT and 6 follow-up counseling sessions regardless of initial willingness to quit.

Overall, 198 patients were randomized to SSC, and 197 were included in the primary analysis; 200 patients were randomized to LT-NRT, and 197 were included in the primary analysis.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Carbon Monoxide, Chronic Disease, Counseling, Lung Diseases, Nicotine, Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Use Cessation Devices.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) in 198 patients.

Its findings take up roughly 10 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2018 (JAMA network open), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) compound page, all human trials.