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Table 3 Adverse events reported in observational studies

From: Adverse events associated with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation. A systematic review and meta-analysis of one hundred and twenty studies involving 177,390 individuals

Adverse event

Number of studies

References

N of events

Pooled n

Proportion

95% CI

Ï„ 2

Headache

17

[75, 93, 110, 118–120, 123–125, 127–129, 131, 136, 138, 140, 141]

1472

75764

9.7

4.6-19.5

2.97

Nausea or vomiting

14

[75, 110, 119, 120, 123, 124, 128, 129, 136–138, 140, 141]

1902

74449

8.5

4.6-15.3

1.39

Gastrointestinal complaints

11

[110, 118, 120, 123, 127, 129, 131, 136, 138, 140, 141]

593

74256

3.9

1.4-10.4

3.02

Heart palpitations

7

[75, 120, 122, 127, 131, 136, 141]

72

2446

3.6

1.4-9.0

1.49

Mouth and throat soreness

6

[125, 129, 135–137, 140]

406

72533

5.4

0.9-25.6

5.00

Skin irritation

16

[75, 93, 118–124, 126–129, 131, 138, 141]

1337

10356

19.5

11.5-31.1

1.56

Hiccoughs

4

[129, 136, 137, 140]

375

71948

2.5

0.3-16.5

4.63

Coughing

5

[120, 125, 128, 135, 136]

125

1672

8.1

2.1-26

2.29

Depression

6

[110, 120, 124, 138, 140, 141]

69

66344

2.6

0.2-27

10.57

Anxiety

5

[118, 120, 129, 138, 141]

104

5841

2.9

0.8-9.8

1.70

Insomnia

18

[75, 110, 118–123, 125–129, 131, 138, 140, 141]

2262

76169

11.4

4.8-24.6

4.05

Dizziness

8

[110, 118, 120, 124, 127, 129, 136, 141]

299

7338

7.3

3.7-13.9

0.94

Self-harm

1

[110, 118, 120, 124, 127, 129, 136, 141]

141

63265

0.2

0-8.4

NA