TY - JOUR T1 - Nicotine replacement therapy increases quit attempts among unmotivated smokers when added to encouragement to practice quitting JF - Evidence Based Medicine JO - Evid Based Med SP - 187 LP - 188 DO - 10.1136/ebmed-2012-100776 VL - 17 IS - 6 AU - Saul Shiffman Y1 - 2012/12/01 UR - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/17/6/187.abstract N2 - Commentary on: Carpenter MJ, Hughes JR, Gray KM, et al. Nicotine therapy sampling to induce quit attempts among smokers unmotivated to quit: a randomized clinical trial. Arch Intern Med 2011;171:1901–7.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science Smoking cessation is an urgent public health priority. Clinical interventions typically focus on improving outcomes for smokers trying to quit; encouraging quit attempts is often left to public education. In particular, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is typically only given to smokers actively quitting. This study by Carpenter et al tested whether encouraging smokers who were not ready to quit by using NRT in a practice quit attempt (PQA) increases quit attempts. Smokers (n=849) not interested in quitting within 30 days received three phone calls over 6 weeks, encouraging PQAs lasting for a few hours or a few days; the final call encouraged smokers to make a real quit attempt. Half the participants were randomised to additionally … ER -