Increasing the use of nicotine replacement therapy by a simple intervention: an exploratory trial

Abstract

This historical cohort study conducted in a University Hospital between 2004 and 2006 included 322 smokers willing to quit and assessed whether adding a teaching session on nicotine addiction to a smoking cessation program could increase the proportion of participants using pharmacotherapy. The control cohort received the standard course while two short talks were added to the course for a consecutive intervention cohort. These talks used the metaphor of a pizza delivery service to explain neural mechanisms underlying nicotine addiction. Medication use was significantly more common in the intervention than control cohort (82.1% vs. 51.2%; adjusted odds ratio 4.0; 2.34-6.83).