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RESTON, Va., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- At the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco conference held in San Diego, CA, Scott Leischow, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Public Health for the University of Arizona, presented research findings indicating that over-the-counter (OTC) nicotine patches resulted in low quit rates of 4-5% at one year, which is in the range of naturally occurring smoking cessation. Published in the January/February 1999 issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior, the study also found that brief physician intervention, did not improve on these rates.
The drug industry has cited several reasons that NRT's have shown to be more effective in research studies than when used as an OTC product in real life settings. First, during trials researchers may unknowingly communicate their expectations to participants, giving subjects an additional motivation to succeed. Second, closer supervision may positively influence study outcomes because people usually perform better when they are being studied. Also associated with the low quit rates of OTC NRT's is the fact that these products only address the physiological aspect of nicotine addiction and ignore the psychological factors. Individuals who smoke often associate the act of smoking with another event. Unfortunately, NRT's do not help smokers deal with the behaviors that they link to smoking. However, a new approach was also presented at the conference. PICS, the maker of the LifeSign stop smoking program has customized their behavior modification program to be used in conjunction with the nicotine patch.
Developed and researched with grants from the National Institutes of Health, LifeSign is a credit-card-sized computer that administers a personalized scheduled gradual reduction (SGR) for quitting. LifeSign collects information about cigarette consumption for 7 days and then over a 2- 4 week period increases the time interval between successive cigarettes until the smoker quits.
The LifeSign for Nicotine Patch program works by reducing the number of cigarettes to 10 a day and then prompting the use of nicotine patches to minimize withdrawal symptoms. Results of the study show support for the use of computerized SGR as a complement to the nicotine patch. Subjects who used LifeSign for Nicotine Patch reported using fewer patches and fewer days of simultaneous smoking and patch use.
PICS has also developed a similar program to be used in adjunct to nicotine gum. Results from an earlier small-scale study demonstrate that LifeSign can triple the efficacy of the nicotine gum alone.
PICS is currently conducting a 1,000 person smoking cessation study, the largest ever done in the Washington, DC area. Funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this study compares the efficacy and cost effectiveness of LifeSign, LifeSign for Nicotine Gum, LifeSign for Nicotine Patch, Nicotine Patch and Nicotine Gum. The company is also in the beginning stages of another study. Conducted at the Medical University of South Carolina, this study uses LifeSign to pace the use of the nicotine inhaler.
For more information about the LifeSign technology call 1-800-LifeSign (1-800-543-3744) or visit http://www.LifeSign.com.
SOURCE: PICS, Inc.
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