This suggested brief advice and NRT is the current best practice for supporting people with RA to quit smoking. Smoking negatively affects the comorbidities in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objective of the study mentioned here was to estimate whether smoking cessation is increased following a 3-month smoking cessation intervention tailored for people with RA.

For this purpose, 39 current smokers with RA were enrolled in this study. The participants were randomized into the control group to obtain the current local standard of care for smoking cessation (i.e., ABC = brief advice and subsidized nicotine replacement therapy [NRT], or into the intervention group to receive ABC plus additional smoking cessation advice for 3 months (ABC+), which included face-to-face, telephone, and e-mail contact. Advice was modified as per the participants' specific needs. These were selected from a variety of  intervention tools that pivoted on education about smoking and RA, pain control, exercise, coping, and support. The primary outcome displayed a halt to smoking at 6 months. As per the secondary outcome, sustained reduction in smoking at 6 months was observed. The disease and psychosocial characteristics of quitters and nonquitters was also investiagted.

Overall, the smoking termination rate was 24%. No note-worthy difference was seen between the ABC and ABC+ groups (21% versus 26%; P = 0.70). A reduction by 44% in the mean number of cigarettes smoked daily was observed although did not differ between ABC and ABC+ groups (mean reduction 47% versus 41%; P = 0.72).  Successful quitters had more years in education and had smoked less during their lifetime  but these contrasts were not statistically significant.

It was thus concluded that an end to the smoking may lead to a truncated comorbid burden. Brief advice and NRT are currently the suitable practice for supporting people with RA who urge to quit smoking due to the absence of added benefit of the tailored intervention.