One of the outcomes assessed in this research was whether pharmacotherapy treatment could help people achieve at least one day of abstinence (initial cessation). The ability to achieve initial abstinence is not only a stepping stone to successful quitting, but research suggests that duration of abstinence in prior quit attempts enhances success in subsequent attempts.29–31 In this regard, the patch and patch + lozenge conditions resulted in the highest rates of initial abstinence (using adjusted p-values; see Table 2). This finding is consistent with earlier findings that the high-dose nicotine patch was significantly more effective in helping smokers achieve initial abstinence, relative to placebo.18 It should be noted that bupropion alone and bupropion + lozenge also had significantly higher initial cessation rates relative to placebo using adjusted p-values.
