Monitoring
Patients attempting to quit smoking are at a high risk for relapse. Only about 3% to 5% of smokers quitting on their own achieve prolonged continuous abstinence, usually defined as 6-12 months of not smoking. The highest risk of relapse is within 8 days of the quit attempt. Therefore, behavioral counseling should focus on that first week of a quit attempt.[215]
If the smoker does not succeed on a quit attempt, it should not be viewed as a failure but as a learning experience.
The motivational intervention should be repeated every time an unmotivated patient visits the clinic setting. Tobacco users who have been unsuccessful in previous quit attempts should be told that most people make repeated quit attempts before they are successful.
The circumstances of the relapse should be reviewed, and new strategies and alternative or additional pharmacotherapy should be tried.[2][73]
Use of this content is subject to our disclaimer