Group behaviour therapy sessions effective for smoking cessation

Group therapy was better for helping people stop smoking than self-help, and other less-intensive interventions. If 5% of people were able to quit for at least 6 months using self-help materials, 8–12% might be successful if offered group support. The quality of this evidence was moderate because studies did not report methods in enough detail to exclude possible bias. There was also evidence of a benefit of group support compared with advice and brief support from a healthcare professional, although the difference was smaller and more variable. This was rated as low-quality evidence because of the variability as well as possible risk of bias. There was also low-quality evidence of a benefit in studies that did not provide the control group with any help to quit. Most studies followed participants for 12 months.