Effectiveness of Nicotine Replacement Therapy on Smoking Cessation and Reduction Among Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients – A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND’: India is ranked second in the world in terms of tobacco use and tops the list of eight high-burden countries that account for two-thirds of the new tuberculosis (TB) cases globally. As tobacco smoking among TB patients is associated with unsuccessful TB treatment outcomes, effective smoking cessation interventions for TB patients is essential to combat this double pandemic. AIM: The study determined the effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) on smoking reduction and cessation among pulmonary TB patients. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study included 300 pulmonary TB patients undergoing antitubercular treatment in government health care centers of Dakshina Kannada district in southern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants in this two-armed, single-blinded, placebo-controlled, block-randomized trial were divided equally (n = 150) for experimental arm (brief advice + NRT) and control arm (brief advice + placebo). The total duration of treatment and follow-up was 6 months. Unadjusted relative risk (URR) and adjusted relative risk (ARR) were calculated for treatment outcomes at 95% confidence interval (CI). Generalized linear regression analysis was performed upon variables with P value less than 0.2. RESULTS: After 6 months of intervention including follow up, there was a significant reduction in self-reported smoking (ARR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.01–1.17, P = 0.03) in the experimental arm compared with the control arm. Biochemically verified smoking abstinence was not significantly different between the two arms (ARR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.72–1.38, P = 0.97). CONCLUSION: The study showed statistically significant effectiveness of NRT for self-reported smoking reduction.