Cs. Ahluwalia et al., SMOKING CESSATION AMONG INNER-CITY AFRICAN-AMERICANS USING THE NICOTINE TRANSDERMAL PATCH, Journal of general internal medicine, 13(1), 1998, pp. 1-8
OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of the transdermal nicotine patch
for smoking cessation in inner-city African Americans, DESIGN: Double
-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, SETTING: Outpatient in a
n inner-city hospital, PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: A computer-generated
random numbers table with a block size set at 20 was used to randomiz
e 410 patients to one of two study arms. INTERVENTIONS:The transdermal
nicotine patch for 10 weeks as an adjunct to brief counseling, MEASUR
EMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 410 patients randomized, mean age was
48 years, 65% were female, 41% had less than a high school education,
51% had an annual household income of less than $8,000, and the averag
e number of cigarettes smoked per day was 20, Quit rates at 10 weeks w
ere 21.5% (44/205) with the nicotine patch, and 13.7% (28/205) with th
e placebo patch (p = .03), At 6 months, quit rates were 17.1% (35/205)
with the nicotine patch, and 11.7% (24/205) with the placebo patch (p
= .08), After adjusting for baseline differences in age and education
al attainment, differences remained significant at 10 weeks (p = .04),
but were not significant at 6 months (p = .14), Compliance rates for
return visits were 83%, 78%, 55%, and 52%, at 1, 2, 6, and 10 weeks, r
espectively. CONCLUSIONS:The nicotine patch significantly improves sho
rt-term quit rates in inner-city African Americans who are interested
in trying to quit smoking, Efforts should be made to reach underserved
populations through smoking cessation programs, and to assist in main
taining abstinence.