Study: Hypnotherapy and NRT Head to Head in Stop Smoking Battle

Results of a controlled US study involving Hypnotherapy have been released and have found those who used Hypnotherapy to quit smoking were more likely to still be a non smoker six months later when compared to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or going ‘cold turkey’.

The results were presented this year at the annual conference of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).

67 cardiacpulmonary patients, who had said they would like to give up smoking, were asked to choose their preferred method and were split into 4 groups. 14 patients were placed in Group 1 and received hypnotherapy, 19 in Group 2 received NRT, 18 in Group 3 received both NRT and Hypnotherapy and 16 in Group 4 went cold turkey.

After six months, 50% of both the Hypnotherapy and hypnotherapy/NRT groups remained non smokers compared with just 25% of the cold turkey group and 15.78% of the NRT group.

It is interesting to note that the lowest performing group was NRT alone and that combining Hypnotherapy with NRT seemed to have no additional benefit. It was also noted that those with cardiac problems were more likely to quit than pulmonary patients, possibly due to an increased fear factor, and it is not stated how these were split amongst the groups. The numbers in the study were too small to be conclusive but they give a strong indication worth additional research.

There is not enough controlled research into the effects of hypnotherapy. Claims of Hypnotherapy success rates vary from 15% - 80%.

Dr Frank Leone, from the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study, said that one of the reasons for inconsistency is what is termed as hypnosis and how the Hypnotherapy is conducted, including how many sessions are used, whether self-hypnosis is taught and whether the sessions are group-focused or individual.

More detail on the study is available in medical news on the MedPage website.

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