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| |  Varenicline Effective in Primary Care Practice Setting for Smoking Cessation: Presented at SRNT By Liz Meszaros BALTIMORE, Md -- February 26, 2010 -- Varenicline appears to be a useful aid for smoking cessation in a general practice setting, researchers said here on February 25 at the 2010 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting. To assess the use of varenicline in a UK General Practice setting, researchers identified varenicline users from data in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. Patients were sent a questionnaire on smoking cessation, to which 193 responded. Varenicline was prescribed to a diverse group of patients with comorbidities ranging from asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, patients on antidepressant therapy, and those with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. A full 90% of patients had previously attempted to stop smoking, and 87.4% had used nicotine replacement therapy during a previous attempt to stop smoking. The 7-day point prevalence cessation rate associated with varenicline at 6 months post-treatment was 49.5%. Patients who reported using varenicline for 9 to 12 weeks were 11 times more likely to stop smoking, than those who completed fewer than 2 weeks of treatment. There were no associations observed between smoking cessation and previous number of cigarettes smoked per day, the number of previous attempts to stop smoking, or the motivations for stopping. Some evidence showed that patients with a longer history of smoking were less likely to stop. “Adherence to the full course of treatment resulted in better patient outcomes,” noted Koo Wilson, MSc, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Pfizer Ltd., Walton-on-the-Hill, United Kingdom. “There was a strong association between the duration of varenicline treatment and smoking cessation,” she added, noting that a full course of treatment with varenicline is 12 weeks. “Clinicians can use the results of this study to communicate the importance of adhering to a full course of treatment to patients and adherence will result in better treatment outcomes,” Wilson said. “This study shows that the majority of smokers make more than 1 quit attempt before successfully quitting, and if smokers relapse following treatment with 1 therapy, don’t be afraid to try an alternative treatment as they will have a better chance of quitting.” Funding for this study was provided by Pfizer Ltd. UK. [Presentation title: Evaluation of Varenicline as an Aid to Smoking Cessation in UK General Practice - A THIN Database Study. Abstract POS3-74]
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