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Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the included studies

From: Combination therapy of varenicline with nicotine replacement therapy is better than varenicline alone: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Source

Participants

Mean age

Male %

FTNDa

Location

Jadad score

Intervention

Early outcome

Late outcome

Hajek [10]

Active: 58

44.5

66.7 %

4.9

London, UK, 1 center

4

15 mg/16 hours nicotine patch, started on TQD, continued to 4th week

1-4 week continuous abstinence

Not available

Placebo: 59

Varenicline 1 week before TQD, titrated to 2 mg/day, continued to 12th week

Total: 117

Koegelenberg [9]

Active: 216

46.3

38.3 %

4.5

South Africa, 7 centers

5

15 mg/16 hours nicotine patch, started 2 weeks before TQD, continued to 12th week.

9-12 week continuous abstinence

9-24 week continuous abstinence

Placebo:219

Varenicline 1 week before TQD, titrated to 2 mg/day, continued to 12th week, tapered on the 13th week

Total: 435

Ramon [11]

Active: 170

45.2

57.8 %

6.5

Barcelona, Spain, 1 center

5

21 mg/24 hours nicotine patch, started on TQD, continued to 12th week

2-12 week continuous abstinence

2-24 week continuous abstinence

Placebo:171

Varenicline 1 week before TQD, titrated to 2 mg/day, continued to 12th week

Total: 341

  1. FTND, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence; TQD, target quit date
  2. aranging from 0 to 10, a higher score denotes greater dependence