17 Feb Varenicline – Chantix – Helped More Smokers Quit Gradually
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jon Ebbert, M.D.
Associate director for research
Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Ebbert: Some cigarette smokers prefer to reduce the number cigarettes that they smoke before quitting smoking completely. Previous studies have evaluated the use of nicotine replacement therapy and one smaller study looked at varenicline to help smokers quit through smoking reduction. We wanted to conduct a larger study with varenicline using a longer duration of treatment.
We enrolled cigarette smokers who had no intention of quitting in the next month but who were willing to reduce the number of cigarettes they smoked while working toward a quit attempt in the next 3 months.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Ebbert: We found that participants receiving varenicline were over 4 times more likely to quit than participants receiving placebo at 6 months and over 2 times more likely to quit than participants receiving a placebo at 12 months. No differences were observed in medication discontinuation rates or serious adverse events between varenicline and placebo.
This study is important because this opens the door to treatment for approximately 14 million smokers who have no intention of quitting in the next 30 days but are willing to reduce their smoking rate while working toward a quit attempt. In the past, these smokers may have not received medication therapy.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Ebbert: The next question to answer is how best to disseminate and implement this this information into clinical practice. Clinicians can use the behavioral techniques for reduction that we provided in the report of this study, but some questions remain as to what are the ideal behavioral strategies for helping smokers quit through gradual reduction.
Citation:
Effect of Varenicline on Smoking Cessation Through Smoking Reduction: A Randomized Clinical Trial
JAMA. 2015;313(7):687-694. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.280
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, & Jon Ebbert, M.D. (2015). Varenicline – Chantix – Helped More Smokers Quit Gradually MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on February 17, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD