Raise your hands if you'd like to quit tobacco!

A clinical trial aims at understanding how smoking cessation products such as nicotine gum and the patch might work in conjunction with online cessation programs. (Not yet recruiting participants) We at SmokeShopTalk wonder why electronic cigarettes might not also be a part of that study? One would think that a USB drive and computing data might also be included w/in the device which could plot nicotine usage, number of times the device was used, the time it was used, etc. In so doing, users could gain valuable biofeddback giving them the information and insight needed for self-managed programs like nothing available to date.

Hey product developers – ya listening?!

Detailed Description:

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States, with cigarette smoking accounting for nearly one-third of all cancer deaths each year. Although a number of inexpensive and effective smoking cessation methods exist, including the nicotine patch and nicotine gum, smoking rates have not declined in the past few years. More than 8 million people in this country use the Internet to seek assistance with quitting smoking.

Research suggests that people who use interactive smoking cessation Web sites typically only experience a short period of smoking abstinence. Smokers who receive nicotine patches in addition to online assistance are more than twice as likely to quit smoking. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a combination of free nicotine patches and an online smoking cessation program, with and without access to telephone counseling, at improving smoking cessation rates in cigarette smokers.

This study will enroll people who accessed the Quitnet.com Web site. Participants will complete a baseline survey about their smoking habits and quit history. Participants will then be randomly assigned to one of the following three treatment groups:

• Group 1 participants will receive free access to nicotine patches, telephone counseling, and Quitnet.com services.
• Group 2 participants will receive free access to nicotine patches and Quitnet.com services.
• Group 3 participants will receive Quitnet.com services.

Participants receiving telephone counseling will receive three phone calls over a 2-week period to discuss their personal smoking cessation plan; they must complete all three calls in order to receive the nicotine patches. At Months 1, 3, and 9, all participants will complete online surveys about their smoking cessation experience. Participants will be contacted by phone to complete the surveys if they do not complete them online.