Comparing the Effectiveness of Combined NRT With Single NRT in Primary Care Clinics in Hong Kong

Summary

The prevalence of cigarette smoking has dropped to 10% in Hong Kong (HK) in 2017, however, smoking still kills 5700 persons per year. Studies suggest that abstinence rates are higher with combined NRT than single NRT, although local data on safety and benefits of combined NRT are lacking. This is a one-year, two-arm, parallel randomized trial in 20 HK public clinics. The aim is to compare the effectiveness of combined NRT with single NRT among HK Chinese. 560 chronic smokers, who smoked ≥10 cigarettes/day for ≥ 1 year, were randomized to either intervention or usual care. Intervention group received counseling and nicotine patch \& gum. Usual care group received counselling and nicotine patch only. Primary outcome was smoking abstinence rate at 52 weeks. Secondary outcomes included smoking abstinence rate at 4, 12, \& 26 weeks. Crude odds ratio (combined NRT vs. single NRT) and p-value were reported from logistic regression without adjustment; for trend analysis, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and p-value were reported from Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) (controlling for time). All AORs were adjusted for age, sex, baseline CO and clusters.

Timeline

Start

2012-12-18

Primary completion

2018-02-28

Completion

2018-02-28

Publications

• Theodoulou A, Chepkin SC, Ye W, Fanshawe TR, Bullen C, Hartmann-Boyce J, Livingstone-Banks J, Hajizadeh A, Lindson N. Different doses, durations and modes of delivery of nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023 Jun 19;6(6):CD013308. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013308.pub2.
• Leung MKW, Bai D, Yip BHK, Fong MY, Lai PMH, Lai P, Lai ISY, Lam ZHW, Leung ATF, To DKY, Wong MT, Wong TK, Chao DVK. Combined nicotine patch with gum versus nicotine patch alone in smoking cessation in Hong Kong primary care clinics: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2019 Oct 16;19(1):1302. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7634-z.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.