Key Findings of New Review on Smoking Cessation Strategies

According to Eurekalert on September 4th, a crucial new review study conducted by a team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, identified three most effective smoking cessation strategies.

Varenicline, a prescription medication sold under brand names including Chantix and Champix; cytisine, a plant-based compound not widely available in the United States but sold as a natural health product (Cravv®) in Canada and Central and Eastern Europe, requiring a prescription in the UK; nicotine e-cigarettes. The review was conducted by the non-profit organization Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (CTAG) and published in the journal "Addiction," led by senior CTAG authors Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, and Jonathan Livingstone-Banks, researcher at the University of Oxford.

The review points out that the combination of these three best strategies with behavioral support, such as counseling, is most effective. Bupropion and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) are also effective, especially when NRT patches are combined with rapid forms such as gum.

The latest summary from CTAG highlights key findings from 14 Cochrane reviews published between 2021 and 2023. Three of the key reviews include:

Updated NRT review: It has been found that combining fast-acting forms of NRT (such as gum, lozenges, sprays) with NRT patches can help more people quit smoking compared to using a single form of NRT; E-cigarette review: As a dynamic systematic review, the latest update concludes that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are more effective in increasing smoking cessation rates than NRT, with moderate certainty evidence showing higher cessation rates compared to nicotine-free e-cigarettes; 2023 Drug and E-cigarette Intervention Review: Covering all globally approved drugs and e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, the results show that nicotine e-cigarettes, varenicline, and bupropion have high certainty evidence as effective interventions, followed by combination NRT. An updated review on nicotine receptor partial agonists shows that in studies directly comparing bupropion and varenicline, the effectiveness of both in smoking cessation may not differ. The review includes 75 trials.