Varenicline to Help Teens, Young Adults Quit Smoking: Study

New study tests how effective the smoking-cessation drug varenicline was in helping teenagers and young adults to quit. The findings of the study are published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

The 157 volunteers seeking treatment to quit ranged in age from 14 to 21; 77 participants received a 12-week course of varenicline, and 80 received placebo, but both groups received weekly smoking cessation counseling.

‘Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality worldwide, and most tobacco users begin smoking in adolescence. ’

The authors report the medicine was well tolerated, but abstinence rates at the end of treatment, which was the trial's primary outcome, didn't differ between the two groups. However, secondary findings suggest varenicline helped smokers achieve self-reported abstinence earlier and better self-reported overall abstinence during treatment and at posttreatment follow-up.

A potential limitation of the study was that biomarkers used to verify smoking abstinence might have been affected by participants who used marijuana or electronic cigarettes.

Source: Eurekalert