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Nicotine replacement therapy and the antidepressant bupropion have been shown to increase rates of smoking cessation, but each is effective only in a minority of smokers. This U.S. study, sponsored by a maker of bupropion, examined whether the two approaches together are better than either one alone.
Researchers randomized 893 heavy smokers to a 9-week course of bupropion plus a nicotine patch, bupropion plus placebo, nicotine patch plus placebo, or double placebo. At 12 months, abstinence rates in the four groups were 36 percent, 30 percent, 16 percent, and 16 percent, respectively. Abstinence rates with bupropion plus nicotine or bupropion alone did not differ significantly, but they were both significantly higher than the rates with the n…