Smoking cessation in COPD patients by a selective partial nicotinic agonist

Abstract

The fight against smoking through various smoking cessation methods could be very effective by early education especially in young people for preventing the occurrence or the severity of obstructive lung diseases. The aim of the study was to present the impact of varenicline, a selective partial nicotine agonist, in adults of 40-49 year-old, active smokers, recently diagnosed with COPD, from 2009 to 2011, in a Smoking Cessation Center of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinic Iasi, Romania. There were included all male employees, without occupational exposure, active smokers, with a personal history of smoking ≥10 packsyear cigarettes, recently diagnosed with COPD, who inform consented to be enrolled for counseling and smoking cessation treatment provided by varenicline. All patients received COPD therapy, according to the current GOLD recommendations. The method of evalution the impact of smoking cessation methods consisted in the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) completed by cases before and after 12 weeks program of smoking cessation counseling and therapy and respiratory rehabilitation. The CAT is a short questionnaire, simple and validated tool of COPD symptoms assessment, measuring the severity of COPD on a patient's quality of life. Results reveals an important decreasing of CAT score with important amelioration of symptoms especially in severe COPD patients. Counseling, smoking cessation and respiratory rehabilitation interventions have shown positive effects of smoking cessation with varenicline among young COPD patients 40-49 year-old.