Quitting smoking with varenicline: parallel, randomised efficacy trial in Iran

Abstract

Background: Smoking cessation programmes were first introduced in Iran in 1997. To date a number of types of nicotine replacement therapy have been prescribed.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of varenicline for tobacco cessation.

Methods: This was a randomised parallel clinical study conducted in 2010. Participants were smokers willing to quit who were visiting a smoking cessation clinic for the first time and were randomly divided into three groups: all three groups received brief counselling on cessation, Group 2 received nicotine patches and Group 3 was prescribed varenicline for 8 weeks.

Results: There were 272 participants in the study: 91 in Group 1, 92 in Group 2 and 89 in Group 3. At the end of the first month, 128 of the 272 subjects (47.1%) succeeded in quitting: 17 (18.7%) in Group 1, 60 (65.2%) in Group 2 and 51 (57.3%) in Group 3 (P = 0.000). At follow-up after 12 months, 58 subjects (21.3%) remained smoke-free, of whom 6 (6.6%) were in Group 1, 23 (25%) in Group 2 and 29 (32.6%) in Group 3 (P = 0.000).

Conclusion: In the study, varenicline treatment was slightly more effective than but not significantly different from nicotine replacement therapy.