Smoking cessation: nicotine patches would be less effective in women

The effectiveness of nicotine patches, nicotine replacement therapy in the most popular smoking cessation, to show long-term, less in women than in men, suggest the results of a study published in the "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology."

Antonio Cepeda-Benito, Department of Psychology, University of Texas A & M, and colleagues compared the interest of nicotine patches in smoking cessation for men and women, summarizing the results of 21 scientific studies with rigorous analysis of the efficacy of this type of nicotine replacement therapy in participants of both sexes.

According to their analysis, during the first six months, the use of this type of nicotine replacement therapy proves effective for both men and women, with a higher than quit rates almost twice received placebo .

But beyond this period, the effectiveness of patches decreases. This reduction shows significant in women, in whom a significant drop in abstinence rates were recorded between the two follow-up examinations performed six months and twelve months after initiation of treatment, the authors explain.

Thus, one year after the start of treatment, the proportion of women who quit smoking using nicotine patches did not show significantly higher in the group of women who received a placebo, note the authors.

As a result, after a year, men who used this type of patches more frequently quit smoking than women in the same situation, noted American authors, who observed that women experience in the long run, more difficulties than men to quit smoking.

According to them, smoking cessation, especially among women, should not rely solely on the use of nicotine patches and support programs designed to prevent relapse (intended to limit the weight gain that accompanies usually this step) might prove beneficial in this population.

Moreover, they point out that their results suggest that further studies should be conducted to compare the effectiveness of different types of nicotine replacement therapy in both sexes, assessing factors that may explain the appearance of possible differences (number of cigarettes smoked every day, degree of nicotine dependence, severity of withdrawal symptoms, or weight gain recorded during withdrawal).