UoB University Graduate School
Easy to start, hard to stop by Carol Sanders
This image illustrates the potential to optimise quit smoking outcomes through improvements in the safe and effective use of Stop Smoking (SS) medicines. Smoking is the principal cause of preventable morbidity and premature deaths in England1,2. Half a million-hospital admissions of adults aged over 35 are attributed to smoking1. Smoking related diseases are currently estimated to cost the NHS around £1.5 billion a year1. Tobacco also plays a role in perpetuating poverty, deprivation and health inequality2. SS services are one of the most cost effective of all NHS health interventions3. Combining behavioural support with pharmacotherapy increases a smoker’s chance of successfully stopping by up to four times. NRT, bupropion (Zyban®) and varenicline (Champix®) are all recommended by NICE as extremely cost-effective4.
“The desire to take medicine is one feature which distinguishes man, the animal, from his fellow creatures.” Sir William Osler, 1894.
Giving up smoking should be easier than ever before. In reality only 25% of quit attempts succeed in the long term5.
“Drugs don't work in patients who don't take them.”6.
Adherence to SS medications impacts their effectiveness; currently adherence is poor e.g. taking inadequate doses or stopping use prematurely; these behaviours stop quit attempt success7. To improve SS medication adherence, the multifactorial causes of decreased adherence must be further understood.
Word Count: 212
References
1.Department of Health (DH) (1998). Smoking kills: a White Paper on tobacco. Department of Health.
2.DH (2011), Healthy lives, healthy people: a tobacco control plan for England. Department of Health.
3.Bauld, L., Bell, K., McCullough, L., Richardson, L. and Greaves, L. (2009) The effectiveness of NHS smoking cessation services: a systematic review. Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdp074, pp. 1–12.
4.NICE guidance (2008) Smoking cessation services (PH10). www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/PH010guidance.pdf (accessed 24/02/2014)
5.McEwen, A., Hajek, P., McRobbie, H. et al (2006) Manual of smoking cessation: A guide for counsellors and practitioners. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
6.Osterberg, L., and Blaschke, T. (2005) Adherence to medication. New England Journal of Medicine. 353(5):pp. 487-497.
7.Vogt, F., Hall, S. and Marteau, T. M. (2008). Understanding why smokers do not use nicotine depedence medications to stop smoking: qualitative and quantitative studies. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 10[8], pp. 1405-1413.
Easy to start, hard to stop by Carol Sanders
This image illustrates the potential to optimise quit smoking outcomes through improvements in the safe and effective use of Stop Smoking (SS) medicines. Smoking is the principal cause of preventable morbidity and premature deaths in England1,2. Half a million-hospital admissions of adults aged over 35 are attributed to smoking1. Smoking related diseases are currently estimated to cost the NHS around £1.5 billion a year1. Tobacco also plays a role in perpetuating poverty, deprivation and health inequality2. SS services are one of the most cost effective of all NHS health interventions3. Combining behavioural support with pharmacotherapy increases a smoker’s chance of successfully stopping by up to four times. NRT, bupropion (Zyban®) and varenicline (Champix®) are all recommended by NICE as extremely cost-effective4.
“The desire to take medicine is one feature which distinguishes man, the animal, from his fellow creatures.” Sir William Osler, 1894.
Giving up smoking should be easier than ever before. In reality only 25% of quit attempts succeed in the long term5.
“Drugs don't work in patients who don't take them.”6.
Adherence to SS medications impacts their effectiveness; currently adherence is poor e.g. taking inadequate doses or stopping use prematurely; these behaviours stop quit attempt success7. To improve SS medication adherence, the multifactorial causes of decreased adherence must be further understood.
Word Count: 212
References
1.Department of Health (DH) (1998). Smoking kills: a White Paper on tobacco. Department of Health.
2.DH (2011), Healthy lives, healthy people: a tobacco control plan for England. Department of Health.
3.Bauld, L., Bell, K., McCullough, L., Richardson, L. and Greaves, L. (2009) The effectiveness of NHS smoking cessation services: a systematic review. Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdp074, pp. 1–12.
4.NICE guidance (2008) Smoking cessation services (PH10). www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/PH010guidance.pdf (accessed 24/02/2014)
5.McEwen, A., Hajek, P., McRobbie, H. et al (2006) Manual of smoking cessation: A guide for counsellors and practitioners. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
6.Osterberg, L., and Blaschke, T. (2005) Adherence to medication. New England Journal of Medicine. 353(5):pp. 487-497.
7.Vogt, F., Hall, S. and Marteau, T. M. (2008). Understanding why smokers do not use nicotine depedence medications to stop smoking: qualitative and quantitative studies. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 10[8], pp. 1405-1413.