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Psychopharmacology (2014) 231:28192823 DOI 10.1007/s00213-014-3482-9
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
Varenicline versus transdermal nicotine patch: a 3-year follow-up in a smoking cessation clinic in Taiwan
Kuang-Chieh Hsueh & Shu-Chun Hsueh & Ming-Yueh Chou &
Lee-Fei Pan & Ming-Shium Tu & Andy McEwen & Robert West
Received: 24 July 2013 /Accepted: 7 January 2014 /Published online: 13 February 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
AbstractRationale A network meta-analysis of randomized trials and real-world comparative studies strongly suggest that varenicline is more effective in aiding smoking cessation than single form nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Modeling the health benefits attributable to this difference relies on extrapolation to lifetime cessation, but to date, follow-up has only extended to 12 months. Longer term follow-up data are helpful in checking these assumptions.
Objectives This study aimed to compare the sustained abstinence rates of smokers using varenicline versus nicotine patch in their quit attempt up to 36 months.
Method Five hundred eighty-seven smokers were recruited at Kaohsiung Veteran General Hospital between Feb 2006 and Aug 2009. Participants received counseling from a physician and received either varenicline (N=296) or the nicotine patch (N=291) for smoking cessation. Both varenicline and nicotine patch users could receive their medications for a maximum of 8 weeks. Participants were followed up by telephone at 3, 6, 12, and 36 months from the first visit. The primary outcome measure was self-reported sustained abstinence up to 36 months. Measures were also taken of smoking characteristics, cigarette dependence, and sociodemographic characteristics.
Results Multiple logistic regression of 36-month sustained abstinence on to medication adjusting for other baseline variables showed a significant advantage for varenicline, OR=7.94 (95 % CI 1.8733.74).
Conclusion An 8-week course of varenicline appears to yield higher abstinence rate up to 3 years than a similar length course of nicotine transdermal patch in routine clinical practice where behavioral support is available.
Keywords Transdermal nicotine patch . Smoking cessation clinic . Varenicline . Abstinence rate
Introduction
Several smoking cessation medicines are approved for smoking cessation and used in a number of countries (Pin-Abata et al. 2013) including various forms of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and bupropion. The most recently approved medication is varenicline, a nicotine acetylcholine receptor partial agonist targeting the alpha4-beta2 receptor
K.<C. Hsueh (*) : M.<Y. Chou : M.<S. TuDepartment of Family...