Conditions: Depressive Disorder Smoking
Keywords: varenicline depression anhedonia smoking
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 18
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This study will assess whether varenicline (chantix) has antidepressant properties when used in addition to other psychiatric medication. It will also assess whether varenicline improves the inability to feel pleasure (i.e. anhedonia), and if it is well-tolerated when used with psychiatric medications.

Enrolled patients will be assessed for improved mood, improved anhedonia, overall sense of health, side effects as well as tobacco use for 6-8 weeks.

Medication will be provided free of charge.

Detailed description:
Outpatient smokers who are depressed despite current stable psychiatric medication regimens will be invited to participate.

They will receive varenicline dosed according to FDA-approved smoking cessation regime; patients will be assessed using QIDS-SR16, snaith-hamilton anhedonia rating scale, SAFTEE and clinical global improvement self-report scales and clinician global improvement scales at the above time intervals.

Concurrent medication, psychiatric and non-psychiatric, will be recorded, as will vital signs (BP, HR, weight) and tobacco use.

Arms:
arm 1: open label varenicline

Interventions: intervention 1: fixed dose varenicline intervention 2: varenicline
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: varenicline 0.5 mg po daily for days 1-3, 0.5 twice daily for days 4-7, 1 mg twice daily thereafter for study duration. intervention 2: up to 1 mg twice daily

Protocol document: