An Effectiveness Trial of Maintenance Therapy for Nicotine Dependence

Nicotine Dependence Clinical Trial

Official title:

An Effectiveness Trial of Maintenance Therapy for Nicotine Dependence

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01047527
• Other study ID #: DESPR DA025078
• Secondary ID: R01DA025078-02
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• First received: January 11, 2010
• Last updated: June 10, 2015
• Start date: June 2009
• Est. completion date: April 2014

Study information

• Verified date: June 2015
• Source: University of Pennsylvania
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Federal GovernmentUnited States: Food and Drug Administration
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The transdermal nicotine patch is the most widely used form of tobacco dependence treatment in the US and Europe, but most smokers are unable to successfully quit with this form of treatment. Failure to respond to this treatment may, to a large extent, be due to the use of nicotine patches for only 8 weeks, the recommended treatment duration. We have found in a controlled randomized clinical trial that using the nicotine patch for 24 weeks can increase quit rates significantly. We propose here a clinical trial to replicate and extend these results to a community setting in the real-world, using the same research design utilized in clinical trials to demonstrate the effectiveness of methadone maintenance therapy for opiate dependence. Specifically, 540 smokers will receive counseling and standard (8-weeks), extended (24-weeks), or maintenance (52 weeks) therapy with transdermal nicotine patches. The main outcome is biochemically-verified smoking cessation at week 52. The cost-effectiveness, safety, and mechanism of effect (e.g., promotion of recovery following a lapse) for maintenance therapy with transdermal nicotine will also be assessed. The study results may change how we treat nicotine dependence with transdermal nicotine.

Description:

The transdermal nicotine patch is the most widely used form of tobacco dependence treatment in the US and Europe. Yet, abstinence rates following patch treatment are only ~20% at 6-months and ~9% at 12-months. There is a growing recognition that nicotine dependence is a chronic disease, like asthma or diabetes, which requires maintenance therapy. While current guidelines established by the USDHHS's Public Health Service (PHS) recommend 8-week duration for transdermal nicotine therapy, support for this recommendation is limited. In a recent randomized placebo-controlled efficacy trial comparing standard (8-week) vs. extended (24-weeks) treatment with nicotine patches, we found that, at 24 weeks, point-prevalence abstinence rates were 30% in the 24-week arm vs. 20% in the standard therapy arm (p < .05); however, by week 52, 6 months after treatment was discontinued for the extended treatment arm, the quit rates were equivalent across the treatment arms. This was the first clinical trial to suggest that the benefits of extended treatment with transdermal nicotine are largely dependent on the continuation of active treatment. However, as an efficacy trial, this study was conducted under highly-controlled conditions with strict inclusion/exclusion criteria to enhance internal validity. If recommendations for the duration of nicotine patch therapy are to be formally revised to encourage maintenance therapy, these findings must be replicated and extended under "real-world circumstances" in an effectiveness trial. In addition, as done in clinical trials to support the use of methadone maintenance for opiate dependence, a replication study must include a treatment arm that receives maintenance therapy throughout the duration of the trial (52 weeks). Thus, we propose to conduct a randomized effectiveness trial to evaluate the benefits of maintenance therapy with transdermal nicotine patches for smoking cessation. Specifically, 540 smokers will receive brief counseling and will be randomized to: standard (8-weeks), extended (24-weeks), or maintenance (52 weeks) transdermal nicotine therapy. The primary outcome will be biochemically verified 7-day point prevalence abstinence at week 52. Additional study aims include assessing: 1) treatment side effects across study arms; 2) longitudinal patterns of relapse and recovery across treatment arms; 3) mediators and moderators of treatment effects; and 4) cost-effectiveness. Overall, the trial findings will provide critical data for future PHS reviews of maintenance therapy with transdermal nicotine for subsequent treatment guidelines; for third-party payer assessments of maintenance transdermal nicotine as a covered benefit; and for individual smokers' decisions to use maintenance transdermal nicotine through over-the-counter access. In turn, this study may help to attain the Healthy People 2010 goals of reducing the US rate of tobacco use.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 525
• Est. completion date: April 2014
• Est. primary completion date: April 2014
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria: Participants will be: 1) males and females over age 18 who smoke at least 10 cigarettes/day; 2) able to communicate in English; 3) able to use NRT safely (e.g., no allergy to latex, no serious abnormal ECG reading); 4) able to provide written informed consent for study procedures; and 5) residing in the geographic area for at least 12 months.

Exclusion Criteria: Participants will be ineligible for the trial if they: 1) are unable to communicate in English; 2) Have a current diagnosis of psychosis and/or manic depression; 3) have a current medical condition that would make using transdermal nicotine patch unsafe (e.g., allergy to latex, serious, abnormal ECG reading)- participants with asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease (e.g., coronary artery disease, abnormal heart rhythm, an arrhythmia) will be permitted to enroll in the study with medical clearance from the participant's physician or the study physician; 4) have had a heart attack within the past 6 months, 5) are pregnant or planning to become pregnant or lactating, or 6) are currently enrolled or plan to enroll in another research or smoking cessation program within the next 12 months.

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Nicotine Dependence
• Tobacco Use Disorder

Intervention

Drug:
• Transdermal nicotine patch
Transdermal nicotine, 21mg/day

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Northwestern University	Chicago	Illinois
United States	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Pennsylvania	National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Point Prevalence Abstinence	self-reported abstinence from smoking for 7 days prior to the assessment and biochemically confirmed with breath carbon monoxide	52-week	No
Primary	Week 24 Point Prevalence Abstinence	self-reported abstinence from smoking for 7 days prior to the assessment and biochemically confirmed with breath carbon monoxide	24-week	No