Overall , nicotine replacement therapy , bupropion , and varenicline have all proven their effectiveness at either promoting smoking abstinence or a significant reduction in cigarette use
Smoking cessation is a chronic issue surrounding individuals with schizophrenia .
It is estimated that up to 90 % of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia smoke cigarettes .
The purpose of this article is to provide a non systematic review of the efficacy of  smoking cessation interventions as well as to explore the potential neuropsychiatric adverse effects of these agents in patients with schizophrenia .
Maintenance treatment with varenicline for smoking cessation in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a randomized clinical trial.
IMPORTANCE It is estimated that more than half of those with serious mental illness smoke tobacco regularly . St and ard courses of pharmacotherapeutic cessation aids improve short-term abstinence , but most who attain abstinence relapse rapidly after discontinuation of pharmacotherapy . OBJECTIVE To determine whether smokers diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disease have higher rates of prolonged tobacco abstinence with maintenance pharmacotherapy than with st and ard treatment . DESIGN , SETTING , AND PARTICIPANTS R and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , parallel-group , relapse-prevention clinical trial conducted in 10 community mental-health centers . Of 247 smokers with schizophrenia or bipolar disease recruited from March 2008-April 2012 , 203 received 12-weeks ' open-label varenicline and cognitive behavioral therapy and 87 met abstinence criteria to enter the relapse prevention intervention .  INTERVENTIONS Participants who had 2 weeks or more of continuous abstinence at week 12 of open treatment were r and omly assigned to receive cognitive behavioral therapy and double-blind varenicline ( 1 mg , 2 per day ) or placebo from weeks 12 to 52 . Participants then discontinued study treatment and were followed up to week 76 . MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Seven-day rate of continuous abstinence at study week 52 , the end of the relapse-prevention phase , confirmed by exhaled carbon monoxide . Secondary outcomes were continuous abstinence rates for weeks 12 through 64 based on biochemically verified abstinence and weeks 12 through 76 , based on self-reported smoking behavior . RESULTS Sixty-one participants completed the relapse-prevention phase ; 26 discontinued participation ( 7 varenicline , 19 placebo ) and were considered to have relapsed for the analyses ; 18 of these had relapsed prior to dropout . At week 52 , point-prevalence abstinence rates were 60 % in the varenicline group ( 24 of 40 ) vs 19 % ( 9 of 47 ) in the placebo group ( odds ratio [ OR ] , 6.2 ; 95 % CI , 2.2 - 19.2 ; P < .001 ) . From weeks 12 through 64 , 45 % ( 18 of 40 ) among those in the varenicline group vs 15 % ( 7 of 47 ) in the placebo group were continuously abstinent ( OR , 4.6 ; 95 % CI , 1.5 - 15.7 ; P = .004 ) , and from weeks 12 through 76 , 30 % ( 12 of 40 ) in the varenicline group vs 11 % ( 5 of 47 ) in the placebo group were continuously abstinent ( OR , 3.4 ; 95 % CI , 1.02 - 13.6 ; P = .03 ) . There were no significant treatment effects on psychiatric symptom ratings or psychiatric adverse events . CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among smokers with serious mental illness who attained initial abstinence with st and ard treatment , maintenance pharmacotherapy with varenicline and cognitive behavioral therapy improved prolonged tobacco abstinence rates compared with cognitive behavioral therapy alone after 1 year of treatment and at 6 months after treatment discontinuation . TRIAL REGISTRATION clinical trials.gov Identifier : NCT00621777
Overall , nicotine replacement therapy , bupropion , and varenicline have all proven their effectiveness at either promoting smoking abstinence or a significant reduction in cigarette use
Smoking cessation is a chronic issue surrounding individuals with schizophrenia .
It is estimated that up to 90 % of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia smoke cigarettes .
The purpose of this article is to provide a non systematic review of the efficacy of  smoking cessation interventions as well as to explore the potential neuropsychiatric adverse effects of these agents in patients with schizophrenia .