Prev Med. 1997 Jan-Feb; 26(1): 25-8.

Smoking cessation rates 4 years after treatment by nicotine gum and acupuncture.

Clavel-Chapelon F, Paoletti C, Benhamou S.

UnitÃ© de Recherche en EpidÃ©miologie des Cancers (U351), Institut National de la SantÃ© et de la Recherche MÃ©dicale, Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France.

BACKGROUND: This study was done to estimate the smoking cessation rates 4 years after treatment with acupuncture and nicotine gum. METHODS: Participants were randomized in a 2 x 2 factorial design to four groups: double active treatments (nicotine gum and acupuncture), double placebo, and the combination of one active treatment and placebo. RESULTS: The success rates were quite similar in the four groups at the different points of follow-up. They sharply decreased between 1 month (around 23%) and 1 year (around 10%). The decrease slowed down thereafter to around 6% at 4 years. CONCLUSIONS: Results from our study suggest that the two treatments did not offer any long-term improvement over placebo. Additional investigations are necessary to estimate the magnitude of their long-term success rate.