A new study has found that heavy smokers who enter residential treatment for nicotine addiction are more likely to remain abstinent from smoking for six months, compared to those who go through outpatient treatment. The study found that 52 percent of the patients remained abstinent from smoking six months after residential treatment, compared to 26 percent who went through outpatient treatment. Co-author Taylor Hays, M.D., a Mayo Clinic nicotine dependence specialist, said that the study suggests that there is hope for patients who want to quit smoking but feel they have exhausted all their options.
Treatment for nicotine addiction often involves behavioral and pharmacological treatments, and relapse rates are the highest during the first weeks of quitting. Dr. Hays said that many patients become discouraged when they relapse, and that repeated outpatient treatment is often the only available option for many people. However, this study shows that more intensive, residential treatment results in a high success rate compared with the more standard outpatient treatment.
The researchers compared date from 4,553 smokers who underwent a tobacco dependence consultation at the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center (NDC) between 2004 and 2007. Of the group, 4,327 received comprehensive outpatient treatment and 226 received treatment in an intensive residential setting for eight days.
The residential patients were more dependent on tobacco than those receiving outpatient treatment; they smoked more heavily and were more likely to have associated medical and psychiatric illnesses. Dr. Hays said that residential treatment offers a protected environment, away from usual daily smoking triggers, and that treatment specialists are able to have several hours of contact with patients. Outpatients receive individual counseling sessions and follow-up counseling as well as medication, but the treatment is often spread out over several weeks and doesn’t allow the concentrated contact that residential treatment provides.
This study underscores the importance of offering residential treatment to heavy smokers who have struggled with more traditional outpatient treatment settings.
Source: Science Daily, Smoking Abstinence Found More Effective With Residential Treatment, March 7, 2011
http://www.addictiontreatmentmagazine.com/addiction/nicotine-addiction/residential-treatment-for-heavy-smokers-found-effective/