Aims To test the efficacy and safety of varenicline as an aid to smoking cessation in methadone maintained smokers. Design Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with random assignment to 12 weeks of varenicline 1 mg twice daily (n=57) or matched placebo (n=55), with in-person and telephone counseling. Setting Urban methadone programmes in the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. Participants: Methadone maintenance patients, smoking ≥5 cigarettes/day, interested in quitting, stable in methadone treatment, without current axis I psychiatric disorders, suicidal ideation, or recent suicide attempts. Measurements Seven-day point prevalence abstinence verified by expired carbon monoxide (CO) < 8 p.p.m at week 12 (primary outcome); CO-verified abstinence, cigarettes/day, incident axis I psychiatric illness, suicidal ideation or serious adverse events (SAEs) at weeks 2, 4, 8, 12 or 24 (secondary outcomes). Findings Baseline demographic, smoking and clinical factors were similar between groups. Retention at 24 weeks was 90%. Subjects receiving varenicline were more likely than those receiving placebo to achieve abstinence (10.5% v 0%, p = .03; effect size 10.5%, 95% CI 4.4 – 19.3%) and to reduce smoking (median 5 v 2 cigarettes/day, p<.001) at 12 weeks. These effects were not maintained after drug treatment ceased. Incident psychiatric illness (OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.16, 4.4) and suicidality (OR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.2, 3.9) were not different between groups. There were no psychiatric or cardiac SAEs. Conclusions Varenicline can aid short-term smoking abstinence in methadone maintained smokers.

This is the first paper to examine, in detail, sociobehavioral correlates of tobacco use in PLHC. PLHC are recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services as a high-priority health disparities population. We are not aware of any tobacco treatment services designed specifically for PLHC. The first step in designing an intervention is defining the characteristics of the target group. Our findings will begin to address this need, and may prove useful in optimizing tobacco treatment strategies for smokers living with hepatitis C.

Introduction: Drug users have high rates of tobacco use and tobacco-related disease. Telephone quitlines promote smoking cessation, but their reach among drug users is unknown. We thus aimed to assess utilization of and barriers to telephone quitlines among methadone-maintained smokers. Methods: Subjects were opioid-dependent smokers in Bronx, New York, methadone treatment programs who were enrolled in a clinical trial of varenicline. All subjects were offered referral to a free, proactive quitline. We examined quitline records, surveyed barriers to quitline use, and queried reasons for declining referral. Results: Of the 112 subjects enrolled, 47% were male, 54% were Hispanic, and 28% were Black. All subjects were offered referral, and 25 (22% of study participants) utilized the quitline. Quitline utilizers (vs. nonutilizers) were significantly more likely to have landline phone service (72 vs. 42%, p = .01), interest in quitline participation (92 vs. 62%, p < .01), and willingness to receive calls (96 vs. 76%, p = .02). Nonutilizers were significantly more likely to report cell phone service lapse (38 vs. 14%, p = .04), and difficulty charging cell phones (19 vs. 0%, p = .02). Reasons for quitline refusal included: (a) skepticism of quitline efficacy; (b) aversion to telephone communication; (c) competing life demands (e.g., drug treatment, shelter); and (d) problems with cell phone service or minutes. Conclusions: Despite several limitations to quitline access among methadone-maintained smokers, routine quitline referral was associated with 22% utilization. To expand provision of smoking cessation treatment to opioid-dependent smokers, interventions to promote routine quitline referral in substance abuse treatment programs warrant investigation.

BackgroundTobacco cessation medication adherence is one of the few factors shown to improve smoking cessation rates among methadone-maintained smokers, but interventions to improve adherence to smoking cessation medications have not yet been tested among methadone treatment patients. Methadone clinic-based, directly observed therapy (DOT) programs for HIV and tuberculosis improve adherence and clinical outcomes, but have not been evaluated for smoking cessation. We describe a randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether a methadone clinic-based, directly observed varenicline therapy program increases adherence and tobacco abstinence among opioid-dependent drug users receiving methadone treatment.Methods/DesignWe plan to enroll 100 methadone-maintained smokers and randomize them to directly observed varenicline dispensed with daily methadone doses or treatment as usual (self-administered varenicline) for 12 weeks. Our outcome measures are: 1) pill count adherence and 2) carbon monoxide-verified tobacco abstinence. We will assess differences in adherence and abstinence between the two treatment arms using repeated measures models.DiscussionThis trial will allow for rigorous evaluation of the efficacy of methadone clinic-based, directly observed varenicline for improving adherence and smoking cessation outcomes. This detailed description of trial methodology can serve as a template for the development of future DOT programs and can guide protocols for studies among opioid-dependent smokers receiving methadone treatment.Trial Registrationclinicaltrials.gov NCT01378858