Comparative Study of Acupuncture Treatment Alone and Combined Acupuncture and Nicotine Patch Treatment on Smoking Cessation

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Background and Objective: Tobacco smoking is an important cause of premature disability and mortality worldwide. Smokers who quit in early age will decrease the burdens of smoking-related diseases and prolong life expectancy. The purpose of the study was to investigate the differences of the cessation rate and the severity of the withdrawal symptoms between the acupuncture treatment alone and combined acupuncture and nicotine patch treatment at the different cessation intervals. Method: The quasi-experimental research design was used in this study. Totally 26 motivated subjects were divided into two groups. The combined acupuncture and nicotine patch treatment group (n= 14) received acupuncture for a week and nicotine patch treatment for six weeks. The acupuncture treatment alone group (n=12) only received acupuncture for a week. Four assessment batteries were given including the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-Ⅱ), Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ), Wisconsin Smoking Withdrawal Scale (WSWS) and the individualized smoking behavior questionnaire. Each subject was then asked for their smoking status on followed-up phone-call one and three months later, respectively. Results: (1) At the end of treatment, the initially immediate cessation effect of the combined acupuncture and nicotine patch treatment group was more effective than the acupuncture treatment alone group. (2) No difference in the cessation rate between the different treatment groups on the followed-up one and three months. (3) The severity of the withdrawal symptoms at the end of the treatment had no difference between the different treatment groups.