OBJECTIVES: Tobacco smoking remains a major public health problem from both health and economic perspectives. Many pharmaco- and behavioural therapy interventions exist to aid smokers quit. This is a review of evidence on the net monetary benefit (NMB) of smoking-cessation interventions (e.g., nicotine replacement therapy, buproprion, varenicline) compared to telephone counseling.

METHODS: A literature search for original studies on the cost-effectiveness of smoking-cessation interventions was conducted in PubMed, EconLit Full-Text and Medline Complete databases.). Using country specific gross national income per capita (2016 World Bank data) as a proxy for willingness to pay threshold, the NMB for these interventions was estimated.

RESULTS: Nineteen eligible studies from 7 countries (United States, England, Scotland, France, Canada, Australia, Spain, and Switzerland) were included in the review. Comparators and outcomes varied across studies. For each of the 7 countries, all smoking-cessation interventions included in the review yielded a positive NMB that ranged from $1723 to $7917.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, current smoking cessation interventions confer positive net monetary benefit to payers in all the countries included in the review.