US Pharm. 2016;41(2):8.
Toronto, Canada—A new Canadian study shows that mailing free nicotine-replacement patches to smokers more than doubled their chance of quitting. Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto mailed a 5-week course of nicotine patches to 500 smokers who had expressed interest in quitting. Participants were not offered any behavioral counseling to enhance their quitting efforts. Overall, 2.8% of patients who received the free patches reported not having smoked for the past 6 months, compared to 1% of those who had not received any patches. The results show that the convenience of having patches delivered directly to them may be an added incentive for some highly motivated smokers to finally quit.
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