Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
According to recent work by the “Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center”, telephone coaching with experts associated with nicotine substitutes promotes smoking cessation, including among people with a strong addiction to cigarettes.
Quitting smoking is not an easy process to undertake, but there are several proven methods. The latest? Receive expert advice by telephone, coupled with nicotine substitutes. The results of this study, published July 12, 2022 in JNCI, will be presented this summer at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Vienna, Austria.
Expert advice over the phone
Quitting smoking is difficult, especially when you are isolated. This is why researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center tested a new support method, 100% telephone.
“Quitting smoking is very difficult and people who seek medication and support do better than those who try to quit on their own.s”, thus confirmed Kathryn L. Taylor, professor in the department of oncology, member of the Georgetown Prevention Program and author of the study.
818 people participated in the study
To test this form of “telephone support”, the researchers recruited 818 heavy smokers aged 50 to 80 (at least two packs a day for a period of ten years).
The latter were divided into two groups: the first received eight intensive 20-minute counseling sessions and up to eight weeks of patches (diffusing nicotine continuously), and the other received three counseling sessions and two weeks of patches.
During these interviews, the smoking experts discussed with the participants various topics such as: the use of nicotine patches, possible strategies to fight against the triggers of smoking, the will to quit, self-confidence / in the future…
Consult a GP online
Conclusive results in “very addicted” people
Three months after the start of the tests, the scientists found a much higher rate of quitting smoking in the first group (in the intensive sessions) compared to the second (14.3% against 7.9%).
Moreover, this method was particularly effective in people with a greater addiction to nicotine (a benefit approximately 3.5 times higher).
“Although dropout rates were modest overall, when comparing 3-month and 12-month outcomes, both groups maintained dropout rates over time.” added Professor Kathryn L. “Our next step is a planned trial with improved interventions and strategies to increase enrollment and engagement in this treatment among people undergoing lung screening in a large healthcare system.”.
The scientists also assure that this type of screening would lead to savings in terms of costs (especially in the management of lung cancer) and lives compared to lambda screening. In France, screening for lung cancer is the subject of an experiment.