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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Kristina Tatum, BA¹, Marcella Glass, BS¹, Melissa Sobel, BA¹, Anita Kunwar, BA, MPH¹, and Robert A. Schnoll, PhD². (1) Division of Population Science, Fox Chase Center, 510 Township Line Road, Cheltenham, PA 19012, 215-728-4320, tatumkristina@hotmail.com, (2) Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center/ Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market Street, Suite 4100, Philadelphia, PA 19104

To date, few studies have examined smoking cessation interventions for cancer patients. In this study, cancer patients are randomized to receive bupropion or placebo for 9 weeks, and all patients receive counseling and NRT in the form of the patch. In this preliminary assessment (N = 173), we examined early changes in withdrawal symptoms, cravings for cigarettes, reactivity to smoking cues, and perceived control over withdrawal symptoms among patients who used and complied with the patch, used but did not comply with the patch, or failed to use the patch. The findings showed that patients who used and complied with the NRT experienced a reduction in withdrawal symptoms at weeks 7 and 9, versus patients who used NRT but were not compliant and patients who did not use the NRT. In addition, those patients who used NRT and were compliant exhibited reduced cravings for cigarettes at weeks 5 and 7 compared to those who used NRT and were not compliant and those patients who did not use NRT. Finally, patients who used NRT and were compliant also showed greater perceived control over withdrwal symptoms at weeks 7 and 9 and showed reduced reactivity to smoking cues, compared to patients who used NRT but were not compliant or patients who did not use the NRT. These results indicate that compliance with NRT positively influences factors predictive of risk for smoking relapse among cancer patients undergoing treatment for nicotine dependence.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Identify factors related to compliance with nicotine replacement therapy for the treatment of tobacco dependence among cancer patients.
• Understand methods for evaluating key reasons for smoking relapse among cancer patients treated for tobacco dependence.
• Recognize methods for helping cancer patients avoid smoking relapse.

Keywords: Treatment Adherence, Smoking Cessation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered