US Pharm. 2015;40(3):5.
London, ON—Patients who receive a brief smoking-cessation intervention before surgery are more likely to be nonsmokers 1 year later. According to researchers at the University of Western Ontario, a simple and inexpensive program incorporating brief counseling, brochures, referral to a quit-smoking hotline, and a free 6-week supply of nicotine patches tripled the percentage of such patients. In a follow-up of 127 patients 1 year after surgery, 25% of those in the intervention group were confirmed by interview as having quit smoking before their surgery, versus 4% of controls. Upon adjusted analysis, intervention patients were three times more likely to be nonsmokers at 1 year, and the effect remained significant even under the assumption that all patients lost to follow-up continued to smoke.
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