Does Duration of Nicotine Replacement Therapy Use Matter in Quitting Smoking? A Longitudinal Study of Smokers in the General Population

Background and Objectives: Little is known about the impact of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) use duration on smoking cessation in the general population. This study determines whether duration of NRT use is associated with smoking cessation. Methods: Data were from the Ontario Tobacco Survey longitudinal study of a population-based cohort of baseline smokers who made serious quit attempts during 18 months of follow-up. The association between NRT (any NRT, patches, or gum) use duration and smoking cessation outcomes (short-term abstinence ≥1 month and long-term abstinence ≥12 months) was estimated by Poisson regression, adjusting for all confounding variables. Results: Among the 1,590 eligible smokers, 933 (59%) did not use any NRT, 535 (34%) used NRT <8 weeks, and 112 (8%) used NRT ≥8 weeks at follow-up. The median duration of NRT use was 14 days. A consistent “J” shape of associations between quit aid use duration and smoking cessation outcomes (quit rates) was found. Using any NRT, patches, or gum