Bupropion for Smoking Cessation

Objectives: To identify predictors of smoking abstinence at the end of medication use that could assist in the optimal use of a sustained-release (SR) form of bupropion for treating cigarette smokers. Design: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-response trial. Setting: Multicenter (three sites) study conducted in the United States. Participants: Six hundred fifteen healthy men and women (≥ 18 years of age) who were smoking ≥ 15 cigarettes per day and who were motivated to stop smoking. Intervention: Random assignment of patients to placebo or SR bupropion treatment, 100, 150, or 300 mg/d, for 7 weeks (total duration of study was 52 weeks: 7 weeks of treatment and 45 weeks of follow-up). Measurements and results: Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of abstinence at the end of the medication phase. Univariate predictors included the following: bupropion dose (p 4 weeks (p Conclusion: Bupropion SR therapy was effective in treating cigarette smokers independently of all other characteristics studied. Lower smoking rate, brief periods ( ie , ie , > 4 weeks) of abstinence with previous attempts to stop smoking, and male gender were predictive of better outcomes, independent of the dose of bupropion that was used.