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OBJECTIVES: Providing smoking cessation services is of special importance to the tobacco control programs. To date, several smoking cessation techniques such as group counseling and use of nicotine gums have been employed nationally. However, the efficacy of nicotine patches has not been evaluated and no specific duration is specified for their use. METHODS: This was a cross sectional study of merging quit smoking intervention with behavioral therapy and medication in 24 drug abuse treatment centers at welfare organization in 6 districts of Iran in 2017. Subjects were visited by a physician for 3 times and were followed up by phone and through regular visits to the clinic at 3, 6 and 12 months post- intervention. RESULTS: A total of 227 smokers including 133 males (58.4%) with a mean age of 43.1 ± 12.9 years were enrolled among which 116 (51.1%), 89 (43.6%) and 34 (20.6%) smokers quit smoking after 2, 6 and 12 months, respectively. Quit rate was significantly higher among those who used medication for more than 6 weeks and this rate was not correlated with age, sex, educational level or nicotine dependence. Also, 189 subjects (83.2%) were completely satisfied with the treatment protocol. CONCLUSION: Long-term smoking cessation medication increases the quitting success rate.
