Are there any effective interventions to help individuals with schizophrenia to quit or to reduce smoking?
People with schizophrenia are, very often, heavy smokers. It is uncertain whether treatments that have been shown to help other groups of people to quit smoking are also effective for people with schizophrenia. In this review, we found that bupropion (an antidepressant medication previously shown to be effective for smoking cessation) helps patients with schizophrenia to quit or to reduce smoking. The effect was clear at the end of the treatment and it may also be maintained after six months. Patients who used bupropion in the trials did not experience any major adverse effect and their mental state was stable during the treatment. Smokers with schizophrenia who receive money as a reward for quitting may have a higher rate of stopping smoking whilst they get payments. However, there is no evidence that they will remain abstinent after the reward stops. There was too little evidence to show whether other treatments like nicotine replacement therapy and psychosocial interventions are hel
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