Implications for future research
Numerous clinical trials and systematic reviews have shown that drugs
are routinely used to promote smoking cessation. Such drugs generally
have the characteristics of treating addictive behaviors. That is, they
have a positive or negative effect on the human nervous system. Based on
the present research and other existing evidence, the following
suggestions for future research can be made. The first pertains to the
definition of the participants’ characteristics. Populations with
diverse characteristics, such as differences in age, sex, and health
conditions, may have different treatment outcomes from the same
experimental design. Smokers with different characteristics may
foreseeably have different responses to the same drugs, which has the
potential to confound the quality of research evidence. Therefore,
future research should consider the potential impact of population
characteristics on trials.
Another future research direction is adverse reactions to drug use. The
effectiveness of drug treatments on the smoking cessation rate should
not be the only focus, but the safety risks of the drugs for different
populations should also be emphasized. Even if a certain drug has a
positive effect on smoking cessation, it should not be considered as a
treatment option if it has obvious detrimental effects on the body. At
the same time, the dosage, frequency, and length of use of the drug
should also be considered. Finding an appropriate drug intake rate not
only eliminates possible harm to the body but also clarifies the
intervention’s effects. Therefore, it is necessary to make an accurate
assessment of the dosage and safety risks of drugs in future research.