Figure 4: Effect of transdermal nicotine on smoking cessation. Smoking cessation is defined by the most rigorous criterion of abstinence (see Figure 2 caption for definition and ranking). Trials are ordered according to the number of patients analyzed using the most rigorous criteria. The total number of patients represents the number of unique patients and thus is less than the sum of the individual studies. Details of the individual trials are summarized in Appendix 3 (available at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/179/2/135/DC2). CrI = credible interval, ICRF GPRG = Imperial Cancer Research Fund General Practice Research Group, TNSG = Transdermal Nicotine Study Group.