Treatment FAQ

there is no an intervention treatment that works for everyone who attempts to quit smoking

by Otho Waters Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Full Answer

Can behavioural interventions help people quit smoking?

Clinical guidelines suggest that smoking cessation interventions should include both behavioural support and pharmacotherapy (e.g. nicotine replacement therapy). This commentary paper focuses on the important role of behavioural interventions in encouraging and supporting smoking cessation attempts.

What are the most common types of interventions for smoking cessation?

The most common and readily available interventions take the form of brief advice/interventions, individual behavioral counseling, group behavior therapy programs, telephone counseling, and self-help materials. Brief advice/interventions Brief advice on smoking cessation from a health care professional is effective in promoting cessation.

Who can provide smoking cessation advice and education?

All professionals have a role in providing brief smoking cessation advice and education. Support to prepare for and during a quit attempt is best provided by health professionals with the appropriate knowledge and skills (some countries, such as the UK, have specially training cessation advisors).

How do tobacco users choose a quitline or web-only intervention?

Among adult tobacco users who called a state quitline, most selected an integrated phone/web cessation program in favor of a web-only intervention. 185 Participants who chose the web-only option tended to be younger and healthier smokers, with a higher socioeconomic status.

How effective are interventions for smoking cessation?

Based on the strong evidence base for brief tobacco cessation interventions, USPSTF (2015) recommends, as a “Grade A” recommendation, that clinicians deliver such interventions to all adult smokers. Even brief (<3 minutes) advice from a physician improves cessation rates (OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.42–1.94) (Stead et al.

What are the interventions for smoking?

SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICEClinical recommendation (smoking cessation interventions)Evidence ratingQuit rates at six months (%)*Telephone counselingA5 to 19Self-help materialsB7 to 27Nicotine patchA8 to 21Nicotine sprayA3011 more rows•Jul 15, 2006

What percent of smokers who attempt to quit are successful?

In 2018, about 55 percent of adult smokers had made a quit attempt in the past year, but only about 8 percent were successful in quitting for 6-12 months. While it may take several attempts to quit for good, remember that even small successes are wins.

What is the most effective treatment for nicotine addiction?

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT): Effective over-the counter-remedies include patches, gum, lozenges, and sprays. These products target the same receptors in your brain that nicotine does. That's how they safely ease cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

What medical interventions can address the problem of smoking?

SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICEClinical recommendation (smoking cessation interventions)Evidence ratingQuit rates at six months (%)*Brief physician adviceA2 to 10Telephone counselingA5 to 19Self-help materialsB7 to 27Nicotine patchA8 to 2111 more rows•Jul 15, 2006

What psychological interventions can address the problem of smoking?

Psychological interventions included cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), counselling, and telephone smoking cessation support. Three trials resulted in significant reductions in smoking for patients receiving psychological interventions compared with controls.

How difficult is it to quit smoking?

Your brain has to get used to not having nicotine around. Nicotine is the main addictive drug in tobacco that makes quitting so hard. Cigarettes are designed to rapidly deliver nicotine to your brain. Inside your brain, nicotine triggers the release of chemicals that make you feel good.

Why do smoking cessation programs fail?

Factors associated with smoking cessation attempts include high socioeconomic level (Reid et al., 2010), high motivation to quit (Gallus et al., 2013), and low nicotine dependence (Chandola et al., 2004). Psychological problems, which are associated with smoking intensity, may also impede cessation (Cook et al., 2014).

Is it possible to quit smoking?

To successfully stop smoking, you'll need to address both the addiction and the habits and routines that go along with it. But it can be done. With the right support and quit plan, any smoker can kick the addiction—even if you've tried and failed multiple times before.

Is nicotine replacement therapy successful?

Current evidence suggests that, all of the commercially available forms of NRT (gum, transdermal patch, nasal spray, inhaler and sublingual tablets/lozenges) increase their chances of successfully stopping smoking. NRTs increase the rate of quitting by 50 to 70%.

Does laser therapy work for quitting smoking?

Laser Acupuncture treatment works by stimulating the functioning of your Liver (that is, by increasing its energy back to a more normal level), and this then eases your tobacco withdrawal symptoms, since your liver can then function properly without the need for tobacco.

Is there a drug to help stop smoking?

There are two quit-smoking medicines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that are pills: bupropion and varenicline. Bupropion has many effects on the brain, including helping people quit smoking. It decreases craving and other nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

How to help patients quit smoking?

Patients often recognise that they need some help, but the effort of finding out where and how to access that help can be a significant obstacle. Nudging them into accepting support by offering a seamless pathway to the local stop-smoking service will increase their chances of a successful quit. It is also helpful if nurses have knowledge of what happens in a stop-smoking clinic – which is outlined in Box 1 – so they can answer patients’ questions.

What is the role of a nurse in smoking cessation?

It describes how to give very brief advice to encourage patients to make a life-changing decision to quit, the role of stop-smoking services, and the use of products and behavioural interventions that nurses can use to help reduce smoking prevalence and improve patients’ health.

How many people die from smoking in the UK every day?

Smoking causes 200 premature deaths in the UK every day (Department of Health, 2017). An estimated 15.5%of adults in the UK smoke (DH, 2017) and, although this represents a big improvement from 1974, when 46% of the adult population smoked (Action on Smoking and Health, 2018), it shows how much more there is to do to reduce the number of people who smoke.

How long does it take to give a VBA to a smoker?

NICE (2018) guidance recommends that primary and community care practitioners give VBA that takes less than 30 seconds to deliver to patients who smoke (Fig 1).

Why do people skimp on NRT?

NRT can also have minor side-effects, but one issue is that people often skimp on the dose because of concerns about using nicotine and becoming addicted to another substance. Nurses should encourage patients to use NRT as often as recommended, as this will help them overcome their cravings. ‘On the hour, every hour’ is the advice for oral products such as gum and lozenges, while patches need changing every day.

Why is it so hard to answer "Do you smoke"?

Clinical experience suggests that the first question, “Do you smoke?”, can be the most difficult for patients to answer because of feelings of guilt and embarrassment – especially if their presenting illness is smoking related.

What is the purpose of Behavioural Interventions?

Behavioural interventions. It is helpful for nurses to look deeper into the mindset of people who smoke ( Box 3) . For stop-smoking advice to be effective, nurses need to give patients hope and optimism that they can quit and that it will be worth it (ASH, 2019) Box 3. Understanding the mindset of people who smoke.

How effective is smoking cessation?

Importantly, smoking cessation interventions (brief and intensive) have been shown to be an extremely cost-effective way of preserving life and reducing ill-health .12Costs per quality adjusted life year (QALY) for all smoking cessation interventions (brief and more intensive and those including pharmacotherapy) are low.13The QALY is a measure of disease burden including both the quality and quantity of life lived and is used in assessing the value for money of health care interventions.12Parrot et al13have shown that cost-effectiveness estimates (costs to the health care provider per discounted life year gained) are lowest for brief advice (£174); adding self-help materials and NRT brings this to £269. Brief advice, self-help materials, NRT, and specialist cessation services cost £255 per year gained. Although the cost increases as each of these components are added, the effectiveness of the intervention also increases. The addition of each of the components increases the total number of life years gained. In the United Kingdom, a QALY that costs less than £20,000 to £30,000 is considered to be cost-effective; therefore, smoking cessation interventions are considered to be highly cost-effective.12This commentary paper provides an overview of the important role of behavioral interventions in encouraging and supporting smoking cessation attempts. It also discusses some recent advances in the field and considers the role of the multidisciplinary team of health professionals who have contact with people who smoke.

How do behavioral interventions help with tobacco addiction?

Linked to the above, behavioral interventions take the form of advice, discussion, encouragement, and other activities designed to help quit attempts succeed.19Interventions generally employ behavior change techniques, addressing factors such as self-efficacy and motivation (often using motivational interviewing techniques).20,21Enhancing motivation is an important part of the overall treatment for tobacco addiction as it increases smokers’ enthusiasm, sense of purpose, and will to quit.22Interventions may also seek to maximize self-regulatory capacity and skills (eg, strategies for reducing exposure to smoking cues) and include adjuvant activities such as giving advice on pharmacotherapy and encouraging social support (eg, among group members or from family).20Interventions should be tailored to individual need, where feasible.20

What is the 5A approach?

The 5As approach, which is adopted in several countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Australia,5,6,9provides health professionals who are not smoking cessation specialists with a useful framework for structuring brief smoking cessation advice/intervention s.27,28The 5As approach assists initially in identifying smokers by encouraging health professionals to ‘ask’ patients/clients if they smoke/use tobacco. It then suggests that they ‘assess’ willingness to stop smoking, ‘advise’ on the importance of quitting, offer ‘assistance’ in the form of pharmacotherapy and/or referral for behavioral support, and ‘arrange’ a follow-up appointment, if possible, with those patients who wish to stop smoking.

What is VBA smoking?

Developed in response to the concerns raised above, a new form of intervention, “very brief advice” (VBA) on smoking, is considered to have a greater level of utility when compared with the traditional 5As approach.29VBA on smoking is a simple, person/patient centered approach that professionals can deliver effectively in less than 60 seconds if time pressures are such that this is required.31When using VBA, professionals are encouraged to ask patients about their smoking, acknowledging that they may have tried to stop many times in the past, and to discuss the options that exist to support a quit attempt, that is, behavioral support and pharmacotherapy.32Review-level evidence demonstrates that advizing people of the best way to stop and offering support and treatment, wherever it is available locally, are the most effective ways of generating quit attempts.33The key mechanism is the positive focus on offering assistance rather than the negative judgment that may be associated with advising people to stop (which they generally know they should do).31VBA, therefore, presents another useful tool in the smoking cessation armory of professionals.

What is the best treatment for nicotine addiction?

Tobacco smoking is a learned behavior that results in a physical addiction to nicotine for the majority of smokers.2,3Accordingly, stopping smoking can be difficult for many individuals, and it is recommended that interventions include behavioral and pharmacological support.4–6Clinical guidelines suggest the use of pharmacotherapy such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion, and varenicline to assist patients with nicotine withdrawal.4–6

What are the theories of smoking cessation?

Smoking cessation interventions are commonly influenced by theories of behavior change , including the Transtheoretical model (often referred to the stages of change model)14the Health Belief Model15and/or Social Cognitive/Learning theory.16Key aspects of the various models include a focus on the importance of motivation, self-efficacy, consideration of barriers and benefits to change, subjective norms, attitudes, and cues to action.14–16In recent years, West and colleagues have promoted the PRIME theory of motivation,23,24which they developed in response to what they perceived to be deficits in previous theories, particularly the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change.15In brief, PRIME theory considers cigarette addiction to be a disorder of motivation and it seeks, through a conceptualization of smokers’ plans, responses, impulses, motives, and evaluations to help practitioners understand what they can do to help patients/clients overcome their addiction (a detailed account of PRIME theory can be found in West,17and McEwan and West.18

What is telephone counseling?

Telephone counseling and quitlines provide support and encouragement to individuals who smoke and want to quit or individuals who have recently quit. Increased frequency of calls by an individual to the quitline increases the likelihood of a person quitting in comparison with less intensive interventions such as self-help materials, brief advice, or pharmacotherapy alone.35Three or more calls have been shown to a have a greater benefit than 1 or 2 interactions. Those who have 1 or more additional phone calls after an initial contact increase their chance of quitting by 25% to 50%.35

What is the best way to quit smoking?

Smoking cessation medications approved by the FDA and behavioral counseling are cost-effective cessation strategies. Cessation medications approved by the FDA and behavioral counseling increase the likelihood of successfully quitting smoking, particularly when used in combination. Using combinations of nicotine replacement therapies can further increase the likelihood of quitting.

How many people quit smoking each year?

Fewer than one in three adults who smoke use cessation counseling or FDA-approved medications when trying to quit. Fewer than one in 10 U.S. adults successfully quit smoking each year.

How do quitlines help?

Tobacco quitlines —Proactive counseling from quitlines increases the chances of quitting when used alone or together with cessation medication. Text messaging and web-based cessation interventions can also help people successfully quit smoking.

How does smoking cessation affect your life?

Smoking cessation: Reduces the risk of premature death, improves health, and enhances quality of life. Quitting can add as much as a decade to life expectancy. Reduces the risk for many adverse health effects, including poor reproductive health outcomes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 12 types of cancer.

How can healthcare professionals help patients quit?

Healthcare professionals can help patients quit by: Advising them to quit. Offering brief counseling. Prescribing cessation medications. Connecting them to additional resources, like a quitline. Following up with continued support to help prevent relapse. Every member of the care team can help.

How much does smoking cost the United States?

Additionally, smoking-related illnesses continue to cost the nation more than $300 billion every year.

How effective is counseling and medication?

Counseling and medication —Each is effective when used alone, and using them together can more than double the chances of quitting.

What is cognitive behavioral therapy?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) developed out of the “cognitive revolution” of the 1950s-’80s, which aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the mental processes and how the mind works. CBT specifically has been found to be highly effective in facilitating smoking cessation.

What is motivational interviewing?

Initially developed as a way to treat alcohol addiction, motivational interviewing was eventually adapted for tobacco cessation. This form of counseling relies on a non-confrontational, nonjudgmental, and collaborative style of dialogue. This aims to help patients to work through the hesitation and ambivalence that many of them experience when faced with the daunting task of quitting smoking.

Does acceptance and commitment therapy work?

Though its efficacy with smoking cessation has not yet been fully established, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has been proven to facilitate general behavioral change. Like CBT, ACT grew out of the cognitive revolution. But while CBT attempts to break down and better recognize the different aspects that comprise the patient’s link to smoking, ACT seeks to build up the patient’s sense of agency, through the belief in their ability to change how they respond to and manage their addiction.

Does hypnosis help with smoking?

Hypnosis has also been shown to assist with smoking cessation. Patients who undergo hypnosis remain conscious and in control throughout the session, but are able, through the therapist’s guidance, to focus on the ideas and connections introduced during therapy. As a result, they begin associating cigarette smell to an unpleasant sensorial experience, such as exhaust fumes. This causes a repulsive sensation to arise when they are around cigarettes, encouraging them to avoid these scenarios moving forward.

What is the best treatment for smoking cessation?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can also be helpful to smoking cessation. In CBT, methods to reframe negative or self-defeating thoughts can be explored, which may make it easier to cope with nicotine cravings and any unpleasant emotions or feelings associated with quitting, such as symptoms of withdrawal.

What Is Smoking Cessation?

When an individual stops smoking, this process is known as smoking cessation. As smoking can be both harmful to a person’s physical health and addictive, successfully quitting smoking can be both a common and difficult to achieve goal. While smoking cessation may be hard to maintain, it is not impossible, and there are research-backed ways to increase your chances of quitting for good.

How can the Great American Smokeout encourage smoking cessation?

Incentives, competitions, and challenges such as the Great American Smokeout can encourage smoking cessation by establishing a sense of community between those who wish to quit smoking and creating a base for social support.

What is nicotine patch?

Nicotine patches and gum provide nicotine to reduce physical cravings. Nicotine supplements typically provide progressively smaller quantities of nicotine until the body is no longer dependent on nicotine. Biofeedback methods demonstrate the effects that smoking has on the lungs and overall health, thus increasing motivation to quit. ...

Why is smoking considered a psychological dependence?

Because smoking causes both chemical and psychological dependence, strategies for smoking cess ation typically aim to alleviate physical symptoms and develop tactics to control the desire to smoke in situations where one might typically smoke. Those who wish to quit smoking may find it helpful to speak to a therapist.

How many people quit smoking in 2015?

A person may make several attempts to quit before finally stopping smoking for good. Fifty-five percent of all adults who smoke attempted to quit in 2015, and 68% of adults who smoke reported that they wanted to quit.

What is the best way to quit smoking?

Counseling or help from a medical doctor or therapist. This type of counseling may include information about the effects of smoking on the body, advice on ways to quit, and other assistance that may improve chances of quitting.

What is the importance of stop smoking for nurses?

It is helpful for nurses to look deeper into the mindset of people who smoke ( Box 3) . For stop-smoking advice to be effective, nurses need to give patients hope and opti-mism that they can quit and that it will be worth it (ASH, 2019)

Do nurses smoke?

When I trained as a nurse, most nurses smoked and there was an attitude of invin-cibility about the risks. Fewer nurses smoke now, but when NHS trusts first went smoke-free, it was an issue for some of the workforce. Long, tiring work shifts and a need for some ‘me time’ can make it hard for nurses who do smoke to quit, even though continuing with their habit flies in the face of common sense. Some nurses say they feel hypocritical giving patients face-to-face training on smoking cessation when they smoke themselves, but for nurses looking to quit this can be a valu-able learning opportunity – stop-smoking services are there to help nurses too.

Introduction

Very Brief Advice

  • NICE (2018) guidance recommends that primary and community care practitioners give VBA that takes less than 30 seconds to deliver to patients who smoke (Fig 1). However, a survey undertaken by Rosenberg et al (2019) for Cancer Research UK found that only around half of primary and community health practitioners reported frequently completing VBA. Approximatel…
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Stop-Smoking Services

  • Patients often recognise that they need some help, but the effort of finding out where and how to access that help can be a significant obstacle. Nudging them into accepting support by offering a seamless pathway to the local stop-smoking service will increase their chances of a successful quit. It is also helpful if nurses have knowledge of what happens in a stop-smoking clinic – whic…
See more on nursingtimes.net

Smoking-Cessation Medicines

  • Stop-smoking products and medicines include: 1. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT); 2. E-cigarettes (vapes); 3. Varenicline (Champix); 4. Bupropion (Zyban) All have a good efficacy profile (Hajek et al, 2019), but combining treatment with specialist support has been shown to give people the best chance of stopping smoking (Stead et al, 2016). Varen...
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Behavioural Interventions

  • It is helpful for nurses to look deeper into the mindset of people who smoke (Box 3). For stop-smoking advice to be effective, nurses need to give patients hope and optimism that they can quit and that it will be worth it (ASH, 2019) A valuable intervention promoted in ASH’s (2019a) report, The End of Smoking, is to encourage patients identified as smokers to try to quit at least once a …
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Reaping The Benefits

  • An added incentive for someone who has chosen to quit smoking is that the health benefits start soon after that last cigarette. Many treatments take weeks to show improvements, but within a day of stopping smoking, an individual’s blood pressure and pulse start to drop and blood carbon monoxide levels return to normal. Other health improvements follow, including less shortness o…
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Nurses Who Smoke

  • When I trained as a nurse, most nurses smoked and there was an attitude of invincibility about the risks. Fewer nurses smoke now, but when NHS trusts first went smoke-free, it was an issue for some of the workforce. Long, tiring work shifts and a need for some ‘me time’ can make it hard for nurses who do smoke to quit, even though continuing with their habit flies in the face of commo…
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Conclusion

  • By delivering brief interventions and referring people to specialist stop-smoking services, nurses are ideally placed to help patients quit smoking and reduce the damage to health that smoking causes. Supporting people to choose good health over ill health is a great gift to impart and all nurses have a key part to play in this. Amendment: This article has been amended since the origi…
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