Smoking Cessation in Primary Care

Choose a treatment plan that fits the patient.

A comprehensive approach to cessation is more successful than any one mode of therapy. For patients ready to commit to quitting, use both behavioral interventions and pharmacologic therapy. Good evidence suggests that each of the following pharmacotherapies can effectively support smoking cessation, unless contraindications are present: 

• Nicotine replacement therapy (gum, lozenges, patches, inhalers, and nasal spray)

• Bupropion (a norepinephrine/dopamine reuptake inhibitor and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist)

• Varenicline (a partial agonist of the alpha-4/beta-2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor)