Bupropion and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Weight-Concerned Women Smokers

Abstract

Many women smokers are concerned about the weight gain that commonly accompanies an attempt to quit smoking. Weight-concerned smokers are less likely to intend to quit smoking,1 are more likely to drop out of treatment,2 have poorer cessation outcomes in treatment,3,4 and gain more weight after cessation5 than smokers without weight concerns. Based on the rationale that preventing weight gain would improve cessation rates, initial treatment approaches for weight-concerned smokers involved adding weight control interventions (ie, dieting) to cessation counseling.6 However, weight control interventions have not improved rates of sustained abstinence5,7,8 and may even be counterproductive.9,10 We reasoned that addressing the concerns smokers have about postcessation weight gain might be a more appropriate treatment target than prevention of the weight gain itself.6 Therefore, we developed6 and evaluated5 a cognitive behavioral intervention designed to address women's concerns about postcessation weight gain.