Thorax
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Multicenter Study
Is nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation effective in the "real world"? Findings from a prospective multinational cohort study.
Increasing smoking cessation rates is an important goal in preventing lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has been found in clinical trials to improve the chances of success at stopping, but recent cross-sectional survey data have raised doubts as to whether it is effective when used by smokers making quit attempts unsupervised outside clinical trials. Because of biases inherent in cross-sectional surveys, this issue can only be adequately addressed using longitudinal studies. This paper reports the first study of its kind to examine the issue. ⋯ NRT use by smokers making self-initiated quit attempts without formal behavioural support is associated with improved long-term abstinence rates.
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Editorial Comment
Nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation in the "real world".