Effectiveness of two different regimens in smoking clinic
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Smoking is the number one cause of death in the United States that can be prevented. It is responsible for one out of every five deaths. Illnesses that are can be due to smoking include heart disease, cancer, and lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, all of which are very expensive to treat. Many efforts have been aimed to try to decrease the amount of people who smoke, but 20-30% of Americans continue to smoke.
 
 
 
 
 
 In order to increase the number of individuals who do not smoke, the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) began using bupropion as part of its Smoking Cessation Clinic (SCC). Bupropion is new medication that has been shown to help people quit smoking. The SCC is a two-month program that uses counseling and nicotine patches to help people who are trying to stop smoking. Many studies have looked at how useful bupropion is at helping people quit when it is used in combination with counseling and nicotine patches. However, most of these studies occur under very strict conditions and their results may not be appropriate to all populations. Also, these studies may not answer questions about how effective or how successful bupropion is when it is used in normal clinical conditions.
 
 
 
 
 
 In order to evaluate the success of smoking cessation medicines in routine practice, this study would examine the effectiveness of bupropion and the combination of bupropion plus nicotine patches in the SCC. We currently receive 50-60 new patients per month. Patients attending the clinic receive one-on-one counseling in a group setting. A pharmacist assigns medicine (nicotine patch and/or bupropion) before starting the clinic based on information provided by the patient. If no restrictions are found for taking any of the medicines, a person will randomly be assigned to a medicine group. The effectiveness of the two medicine groups will be determined by looking at the number of people who complete the SCC, the number who remain non-smokers six months after finishing the program, and the cost of each medicine. Also, the number and types of side effects caused by the medicine and any changes in what medicine was taken during the program will be assessed in order to determine how well patients tolerated the medicine. We will also determine the number of patients who were able to be assigned to a medicine group out of everyone who enrolled in the program. Significant differences in the success of each medicine group, based on the number of people who remain non-smokers six months after the program, will become an important factor in setting up a standard plan that is more likely to help patients quit smoking.
 
 
 
 
 
 In the US, about 50 million people still smoke. This shows that an effective and economic program is needed to help people quit smoking. Finding an effective medicine plan can help decrease the amount of disease, disability, and death that is due to smoking cigarettes. This study would help determine which of these two regimens is the most effective way to help people stop smoking in a clinical setting.