Cigarette prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks so more smokers are at least thinking about quitting. A study followed 750 smokers in Kansas to see what worked best to help them quit.
Some in the study just got medication like a nicotine patch or the drug Wellbutrin, also known as Zyban. Others also received counseling over the phone.
"The one-on-one counseling over the phone was the best aspect of the program that I enjoyed," study participant, Carol Tompkins said.
The study is in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It found those who received medication and the most counseling were most likely to have quit after a year or 18 months.
But even those who just used products and didn't get counseling did have a good quit rate, close to one in four after two years. That's about the same as the other groups -- and much higher than people who try to quit on their own.
What was key? Persistence. Giving people the chance to try, try, try again.
"Patients were willing to keep trying to quit - and as they kept trying our quit rate progressively improved throughout the duration of the study," KU Med Researcher Dr. Edward Ellerbeck said.
Dr. Ellerbeck says the results make it clear that smoking must be viewed as a chronic disease.
"It's our policy makers and our insurance companies that say we're only going to give you one chance a year, one chance every six months and you're only going to be able to take this medication for six weeks or eight weeks and you're on your own," Dr. Ellerbeck said.
Dr. Ellerbeck said instead, smokers should be given repeated opportunities to improve their chances of quitting.
A separate study found a triple treatment combination -- the nicotine patch, inhaler and a pill -- worked much better than the patch alone.
Some in the study just got medication like a nicotine patch or the drug Wellbutrin, also known as Zyban. Others also received counseling over the phone.
"The one-on-one counseling over the phone was the best aspect of the program that I enjoyed," study participant, Carol Tompkins said.
The study is in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It found those who received medication and the most counseling were most likely to have quit after a year or 18 months.
But even those who just used products and didn't get counseling did have a good quit rate, close to one in four after two years. That's about the same as the other groups -- and much higher than people who try to quit on their own.
What was key? Persistence. Giving people the chance to try, try, try again.
"Patients were willing to keep trying to quit - and as they kept trying our quit rate progressively improved throughout the duration of the study," KU Med Researcher Dr. Edward Ellerbeck said.
Dr. Ellerbeck says the results make it clear that smoking must be viewed as a chronic disease.
"It's our policy makers and our insurance companies that say we're only going to give you one chance a year, one chance every six months and you're only going to be able to take this medication for six weeks or eight weeks and you're on your own," Dr. Ellerbeck said.
Dr. Ellerbeck said instead, smokers should be given repeated opportunities to improve their chances of quitting.
A separate study found a triple treatment combination -- the nicotine patch, inhaler and a pill -- worked much better than the patch alone.
