July 7, 2003 – The nicotine patch would have very limited effectiveness in helping smokers who want to quit for good.
Researchers contacted 840 people who, in 1991 and 1992, had participated in a study to measure the effectiveness of the patch. At the time, 9% of participants had successfully quit smoking after one year. The researchers found, however, that more than half of those resumed smoking in the years since the study ended. In addition, the relapse rate in participants who used the patch or a placebo was similar: 39% for the former and 45% for the latter.
So that is to say that the nicotine patch helped only 5% of the original participants to quit smoking.1.
These results, say the researchers, illustrate how difficult it is to quit smoking and how essential it is to take into account the personality of each smoker who wants to get rid of his bad habit.
Other American researchers have found that smokers who manage to reduce their consumption to less than five cigarettes per day (which many would manage to do) have an excellent chance of quitting smoking altogether. In the study, 37% of smokers who burned fewer than five cigarettes a day no longer smoked at all two years later2.
Those who are successful in quitting may be able to maximize their chances of their child never starting to smoke, especially if they quit when the child is still young. A study of 3,000 children found that if both parents quit before the child is eight or nine years old, the child will be 39% less likely to smoke, compared to 25% for children with one. single parent crushes for good3.
The World Bank says smoking is the leading cause of death in developing countries, where it is estimated to kill 2.5 million people each year.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
From ACS News Today, WebMD, AFP, Reuters Health, AP; June 10 and 18, July 3 and 4, 2003.
1. Yudkin P, Hey K, Roberts S, Welch S, Murphy M, Walton R. Abstinence from smoking eight years after participation in randomized controlled trial of nicotine patch.BMJ 2003 Jul 5; 327 (7405): 28-29. [Consulté le 7 juillet 2003].
2. Zhu SH, Sun J, Hawkins S, Pierce J, Cummins S. A population study of low-rate smokers: quitting history and instability over time.Health Psychol 2003 May; 22 (3): 245-52. [Consulté le 7 juillet 2003].
3. Bricker JB, Leroux BG, Peterson AV Jr, Kealey KA, Sarason IG, Andersen MR, Marek PM. Nine-year prospective relationship between parental smoking cessation and children’s daily smoking. Addiction 2003 May; 98 (5): 585-93. [Consulté le 7 juillet 2003].
