Are biomarkers a useful aid in smoking cessation? A review and analysis ofthe literature

Healthcare providers' ability, to motivate people to try to quit smoking or to remain abstinent is limited. Even with our best treatments, most smoker s relapse within I year Therefore it is important that we constantly strive to develop and test new, effective smoking interventions. Providing feedba ck on one's biomarkers (eg, biological indices of smoking-related harm, har m exposure, or genetic susceptibility to disease) have been suggested as po tentially useful for increasing smokers' motivation or ability to quit smok ing. In fact, variations of this strategy are commonly incorporated into be havioral smoking-cessation interventions, but little empirical evidence has specifically addressed whether this approach is effective. In this article , the author reviews the theoretical rationale and empirical evidence regar ding this practice. Although the preliminary evidence is promising, more re search is needed to determine the efficacy of using biomarkers and the limi ts of the strategy's effectiveness. Future investigations should address th ese issues.