| Single therapies |
| Brief physician advice | A | 2 | 2 to 10 | Brief intervention is five minutes or less in a single visit. |
| Telephone counseling | A | 37, 40 | 5 to 19 | Overall effect likely to be small compared with no intervention. There is no additional benefit when combined with other interventions (e.g., physician advice, pharmacotherapy). Indirect evidence suggests that “quitlines” can be useful in smoking cessation. |
| Self-help materials | B | 38, 40 | 7 to 27 | Successful interventions usually require multiple (up to six per week) contacts with self-help materials near the time of the quit date. Materials that are tailored to individual smokers may be more effective than standard materials.38 |
| Nicotine patch | A | 12 | 8 to 21 | Less potential for addiction compared with gum |
| Nicotine spray | A | 12, 33 | 30 | Higher potential for addiction compared with other NRTs15 |
| Nicotine inhaler | A | 12, 33 | 23 | Mimics hand-to-mouth motion of smoking |
| Nicotine lozenge | A | 16 | 24 | Similar results among smokers regardless of success or failure of previous pharmacologic therapy17 |
| Nicotine gum in highly dependent smokers | A | 12 | 24 | Quit rates were higher in specialized cessation clinics than in primary care settings; higher potential for addiction than the patch6,11 |
| Bupropion SR (Wellbutrin SR) | A | 20, 22, 23 | 21 to 30 | Initial concerns about increased risk of seizures have not been confirmed. |
| Combination therapies |
| Nicotine patch plus nicotine gum | B | 25 | 28 | Combination more effective than either agent alone |
| Nicotine patch plus nicotine spray | B | 28 | 37 (at three months) | Combination more effective than either agent alone |
| Nicotine patch plus nicotine inhaler | B | 26 | 25 | Combination more effective than either agent alone |
| Nicotine patch plus bupropion | B | 23 | 35 | Combination more effective than patch alone but not bupropion alone |