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Smokers might be particularly motivated to quit after hospitalization. In two new studies, researchers examined the effects of postdischarge varenicline and e-cigarettes, with disappointing results.
Canadian researchers conducted a double-blind, manufacturer-supported study of 302 patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome and assigned to varenicline or placebo while in the hospital. During the next year, point prevalence of smoking abstinence was higher among varenicline recipients at all time points: 66% versus 52% at week 1, 47% versus 32% at week 24, and 40% versus 29% at week 52. Even so, by week 52, only 31% of the varenicline group and 21% of the placebo group had achieved continuous abstinence.
In a secondary analysis of data from…