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Smoking is common among HIV-infected patients in the U.S. and is a major threat to their health. To date, efforts to broadly decrease smoking in this population have yielded disappointing results. In a recent study involving patients identified as smokers in their medical records at a university HIV clinic, researchers compared a proactive pharmacotherapy-based algorithm intervention (an approach that has been effective in conditions such as hyperglycemia) with standard therapy.
One hundred HIV-infected active smokers were randomized to receive either a 12-week pharmacotherapy-based algorithm treatment offered promptly or treatment as usual (i.e., smoking-cessation assistance from the patient's medical provider when the patient was ready to …