Methods for smoking cessation.

Smoking cessation treatment consists of three phases: preparation, intervention, and maintenance (support and coping strategies). Although most people who quit smoking do so without going through a formal program, many people act on the advice of a health professional. Self-help techniques appear to be cost effective in terms of their minimal use of professionals. The popularity of hypnosis and acupuncture as quitting methods are not warranted by their quit rates. Quit rates can be improved if physicians provide more help to their patients than just simple advice and warnings.