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Zyban (Bupropion) Helps Teens Stop Smoking in First Study of the Drug in Adolescents
Studying the safety and efficacy of medication-based smoking cessation treatment for adolescents
Between 1997 and 2004, researchers at the University of Arizona evaluated the safety and efficacy of two doses of bupropion (a medication-based smoking cessation treatment, also called Zyban) for use by adolescents.
Key Findings
- Adolescents who took 300 mg of bupropion per day were significantly less likely to be smoking after six weeks than were adolescents who took 150 mg per day or who took the placebo. These differences did not hold up after 26 weeks.
- Adolescents experienced few and minor adverse effects from taking the medication, indicating that bupropion is well tolerated by adolescents.
Funding
Through this unsolicited grant of $259,541, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provided partial support from December 2001 through July 2004, enabling researchers to finish recruiting adolescents and analyze the data.