Smoking Cessation Interventions in Cardiovascular Patients

Objectives. To review current evidence for the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions in cardiovascular patient populations. Design and materials. Studies were obtained from systematic reviews of the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Review Group. Twelve Cochrane reviews related to secondary prevention in a variety of populations were used to extract eligible studies. Studies were eligible when they considered smokers diagnosed with symptomatic cardiovascular disease. Methods. Data concerning the comparison between the intervention of interest and a placebo or standard treatment group were derived from eligible papers. Based on these data, Absolute Risk Reduction figures were calculated to express the effectiveness of each intervention on smoking cessation. Results. We found 12 studies examining smoking cessation interventions in cardiovascular patients. Five studies reported significant results. No evidence was found for Nicotine Replacement Therapy or other pharmacology to be effective, neither for self-help materials, group, individual or telephone counseling. There is limited evidence for physician's advice and nurse-delivered interventions to be effective. Conclusions. Smoking cessation studies in cardiovascular patients are scarce. The available studies show very limited effects. The reasons for the lack of success of smoking cessation strategies in these patients remain unclear. Further research is needed to find effective cessation strategies for patients with cardiovascular diseases.