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Q Do antidepressants increase long term abstinence from smoking?
Clinical impact rating GP/FP/Primary care ★★★★★★☆ IM ★★★★★★☆ Respirology ★★★★★★☆
METHODS
Data sources:
drug names found in the Tobacco Addiction Group’s specialised register, reference lists, and meeting abstracts were searched in PubMed and EMBASE/Excerpta Medica in 2002. Investigators were contacted.
Study selection and assessment:
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared any antidepressant with placebo or another treatment and assessed abstinence of smoking at ⩾6 months. Studies were pooled using fixed effects.
Outcome:
abstinence.
MAIN RESULTS
30 RCTs were included. Tricyclic antidepressants. Nortriptyline increased smoking cessation (5 RCTs) (table). Monoamine oxidase inhibitors. 1 RCT of moclobemide did not show a statistically significant difference in abstinence at 12 months (table). Atypical …
Footnotes
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For correspondence: Professor J Hughes, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA. john.hughesuvm.edu
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Sources of funding: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and NHS Research and Development National Cancer Programme.