Change in Health-Related Quality of Life Among Individuals With Cancer Undergoing Smoking Cessation Treatment Involving Varenicline.
Julia R May, Nancy C Jao, Kristen McCarter and 5 others
PMID 33337436WHAT IT FOUND
Health-related quality of life remained stable during smoking cessation treatment with varenicline and counseling.
This was true regardless of whether patients quit smoking, how long they took varenicline, or if they were undergoing cancer treatment. Nurses can reassure patients that this intensive treatment does not worsen their quality of life.
Key findings
01Overall health-related quality of life did not change across the 24-week treatment period, regardless of cancer treatment status, varenicline duration, or quit status.
02Physical and emotional quality of life scores remained stable over time, with no significant differences based on whether patients quit smoking or the duration of their varenicline treatment.
03Participants who were unemployed prior to treatment had lower physical quality of life scores on average compared to those who were employed.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The analysis included only 103 participants, which is about 50% of the original trial's population, potentially limiting generalizability. The study could not rule out that patients who dropped out or did not complete assessments might have experienced a decrease in quality of life, introducing potential bias. The observation that quitters had higher emotional quality of life is correlational; it is unclear if quitting improved emotional well-being or if patients with better emotional well-being were more likely to quit. The study did not establish causality for the link between employment status and physical quality of life scores.
Declared interests
The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) and non-U.S. government sources. No specific commercial conflicts of interest regarding the drug varenicline were detailed in the provided text beyond the funding sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that quitting smoking improves health-related quality of life. The study found that quality of life remained stable over time for everyone. While quitters had higher emotional scores than smokers, this was a difference between groups, not a change within individuals caused by the act of quitting.