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TRANSDERMAL NICOTINE FOR SMOKING CESSATION.

Nicotine gum is a useful adjunct in smoking cessation programs, but many patients have problems chewing it properly. This limitation led to the development of a transdermal delivery system to provide a continuous, controlled dose of nicotine.

Investigators randomized 158 heavy smokers (mean, 33 cigarettes/day) to receive one of three 4-week regimens: a transdermal nicotine patch worn around the clock, the same patch worn during waking hours only, or a placebo patch. (To maintain blinding, all patients wore two patches, removing one at bedtime.) All patients agreed to quit smoking at the start of the study and were counseled about smoking cessation. Abstinence was determined by self-reports and measurement of expired air carbon monoxide.

After 4 weeks, abstinence rates were significantly higher in the two groups receiving nicotine (39 percent and 35 percent, respectively) than in the placebo group (13.5 percent). Nicotine-treated patients also had significantly less withdrawal symptomatology during the first 2 weeks. Six months after the study, self-reported quit rates remained significantly higher in treated patients (22 percent and 31 percent) than in the placebo group (8 percent).

These preliminary results suggest that transdermal nicotine promotes short-term smoking cessation, although it remains unclear which regimen is best. This study was funded by the maker of the nicotine patch, for which FDA approval is pending.

— ASB

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine May 10, 1991

Citation(s):

Daughton DM et al. Effect of transdermal nicotine delivery as an adjunct to low-intervention smoking cessation therapy: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Arch Intern Med 1991 Apr 151 749-752.

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