Varenicline for Smoking Cessation in Patients with Mental Health Challenges

Description: 78,457 individuals were included in the analysis. All smoked tobacco and had a pre-existing mental health challenge such as bipolar disorder, depression, a neurotic disorder, schizophrenia, and/or had prescriptions for antidepressants, antipsychotics, hypnotics/anxiolytics, and/or mood stabilizers. In all patients, Nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) and Varenicline prescribing/use was assessed along with smoking cessation outcomes. Outcomes were assessed at follow up periods of 3, 6, and 9 months and at 1, 2, and 4 years. The results showed that Varenicline use was more effective than NRT for smoking cessation in patients with mental health challenges. In fact, Varenicline was generally associated with similar or decreased odds of poorer mental health outcomes (i.e. improvements in mental health) when compared to NRT. While these findings are observational by nature, they have important implications around the use of Varenicline for smoking cessation in patients with pre-existing mental health challenges.