Does Extending CBT Improve Smoking Cessation?

Abstinence rates were the same, whether cognitive-behavioral therapy for smoking cessation lasted for 48 weeks or 26 weeks.

Most cigarette smokers do not stay abstinent after treatment. Evidence suggests that extending cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) improves abstinence rates and that CBT improves the efficacy of pharmacotherapy and may even surpass it. The current researchers conducted the first-ever study directly comparing a shorter course of CBT to a longer one.

All 219 participants received manual-based CBT focusing on self-regulatory skills to avoid smoking relapse plus pharmacotherapy (bupropion and nicotine replacement). After 10 weeks, in an adaptive-treatment approach, pharmacotherapy was stopped, extended, or switched to varenicline, based on smoking status, depression, and craving symptoms. All participants received 26 weeks of CBT initially. The g…

Reviewing Author

Claire Wilcox, MD

Disclosures

EquityMannkind Corporation

Grant/Research SupportNIH

Claire Wilcox, MD

Disclosures

EquityMannkind Corporation

Grant/Research SupportNIH

Does Extending CBT Improve Smoking Cessation?

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Reviewing Author