The aim of this study was to rank order the effectiveness of smoking cessation 
interventions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. We 
searched 10 databases to identify randomised trials of smoking cessation 
counselling (SCC) with or without pharmacotherapy or nicotine replacement 
therapy (NRT). We conducted a network meta-analysis using logistic regression 
analyses to assess the comparative effectiveness of smoking cessation 
interventions while preserving randomisation of each trial. The analysis of 
7,372 COPD patients from six out of eight identified trials showed that SCC in 
combination with NRT had the greatest effect on prolonged abstinence rates 
versus usual care (OR 5.08, p<0.0001) versus SCC alone (2.80, p = 0.001) and 
versus SCC combined with an antidepressant (1.53, p = 0.28). The second most 
effective intervention was SCC combined with an antidepressant (3.32, p = 0.002) 
versus SCC alone (1.83, p = 0.007), with no difference between antidepressants. 
SCC alone was of borderline superiority compared with usual care (1.81, p = 
0.07). A small body of evidence suggests that SCC combined with NRT is more 
effective than other combinations and single smoking cessation treatments in 
COPD, but substantially more research is needed for this most important COPD 
treatment.