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Table 2 Gold Standard Programme for smoking and alcohol cessation intervention

From: STOP smoking and alcohol drinking before OPeration for bladder cancer (the STOP-OP study), perioperative smoking and alcohol cessation intervention in relation to radical cystectomy: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Patient education programme

 First meeting (before admission)

  ◦ Level of motivation, ambivalence, pros and cons

 Second meeting (after 1 week)

  ◦ Dependence, withdrawal symptoms (experience and expectations)

 Third meeting (after 2 weeks)

  ◦ Relapse (description and management)

 Fourth meeting (after 3 weeks)

  ◦ Benefits of short- and long-term smoking and/or alcohol abstinence

 Fifth meeting (after 5 weeks)

  ◦ Continued smoking abstinence and/or reduced alcohol intake following intervention

At each meeting:

 Smokers: personalised Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) in accordance with patient preferences and nicotine dependency

 Risky drinkers: thiamine and B vitamins (300 mg × 7 weekly)

 Alcohol withdrawal prophylaxis and treatment (chlordiazepoxide 10 mg as required)

 Disulfiram (200 mg × 2 weekly) supervised at weekly meetings (not administrated if patients test positive on breath test)

 All: haemoglobin, liver enzymes and alcohol biomarkers (blood, urine), carbon monoxide (CO) and alcohol breath test, lung function test

The study medication is provided for free and transportation for the weekly meetings will be reimbursed. Patients have telephone access to the research nurse