A new study has shown that almost half of patients with schizophrenia achieved smoking cessation when treated with varenicline and cognitive behavioral therapy. Researchers reported on the study at the May 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

“We observed that 48 of 101 patients in the study achieved 2 weeks or more of confirmed, biochemically verified, continuous tobacco abstinence at the end of the open phase,” said Eric Achytes, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, during a poster presentation. “As many as 72% to 90% of schizophrenia patients smoke, and getting them to quit smoking is difficult.” In addition to quitting smoking, Dr. Achytes also observed positive changes in the patients’ psychiatric conditions.

The patients have been randomised into a double-blind, placebo-controlled 40-week trial that is ongoing.

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