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Many smokers are ill-informed when it comes to nicotine replacement therapy

07/27/11

A study conducted by Richard Day Research and recently published in the Addictive Behaviors journal highlights the fact that smokers who are better educated on treatment methods are more likely to successfully quit the habit.

The study reports that nearly half of all American smokers have unsuccessfully tried to quit at least once every year. One of the main factors contributing to the low success rate is that a large percentage of smokers attempt to quit without utilizing treatment options.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) aids like patches and gum can nearly double a smoker's chance of successfully kicking the habit. The study found that widespread misconceptions about NRT contribute to many smokers neglecting to use proven treatments.

For example, 93 percent of the smokers surveyed thought that smoking while wearing a nicotine patch can lead to heart attacks. Seventy-six percent were unaware that nicotine lozenges, gum and patches are not as addictive as cigarettes, and 69 percent thought that NRT was just as harmful as cigarettes.

Relatively overlooked drawbacks of cigarette addiction are the increased life insurance rates of smokers. Many life insurance applications ask if an applicant has used a tobacco product in the past year, and those who answer yes are usually labeled as higher-risk smokers who will pay higher premiums.

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