title: Randomized, controlled trial of clonidine for smoking cessation in a primary care setting.
abstract: Clonidine hydrochloride has been reported to reduce tobacco withdrawal symptoms and facilitate smoking cessation. We enrolled 185 subjects, 92 receiving clonidine and 93 receiving placebo, in a randomized, double-blind study of clonidine for smoking cessation in a primary care setting. Clonidine had no demonstrable effect on withdrawal (8 of 11 measures favoring placebo). At 4 weeks, 17 (18%) subjects receiving clonidine had quit compared with 13 (14%) receiving placebo (chi 2 = 0.7; 90% confidence interval of benefit from clonidine, -4% to 13%). At 4 weeks, the mean number of cigarettes smoked was 17.7 for those receiving clonidine and 17.5 for those receiving placebo (t = 0.1; 90% confidence interval of benefit from clonidine, -4.1 to 3.7 cigarettes per day). These results provide little support for a beneficial effect of clonidine on tobacco withdrawal symptoms, quitting, or smoking reduction in a primary care setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Franks
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harp
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003000:Clonidine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011320:Primary Health Care; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012907:Smoking / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D003000:Clonidine