Source
Harvard Medical School & Harvard School of Dental Medicine, MA 02115, USA. taru_kinnunen@hms.harvard.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
The aim was to investigate the role of nicotine gum and pretreatment depressive symptoms in long-term smoking cessation.
METHODS:
12-month follow-up of 608 participants within a randomized, controlled trial was conducted. Participants received brief counseling plus nicotine or placebo treatment. Based on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale pre-treatment score (> or =16), 32% of the participants were classified as depressed at baseline.
RESULTS:
At the 12-month follow-up the non-depressed participants with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) were most successful (20.1%), while the depressed ones with placebo were least successful (5.7%) (p = .004). However, the depressed participants with NRT (15.1%) were not significantly less successful than the non-depressed ones with NRT (20.1%, p = .23). Survival analysis showed significant depression (p = .01) and treatment effects (p = < .001) on the abstinence. Further, when adjusted for marital status and education, the treatment effect remained significant (p < .001), whereas the depression effect became non-significant (p = .08).
CONCLUSIONS:
NRT improved cessation both among the depressed and non-depressed. To understand discrepancies in literature reporting depression and smoking cessation outcome, the pharmacological treatment modality and social-demographic variables should be examined as additional variables.