Gabapentin for cessation of smoking and non-smoking tobacco habits in Indian population.

BACKGROUND The effectiveness of Gabapentin in tobacco dependence has been evaluated by many researchers.The randomized control trials, testing the efficacy of gabapentin in quitting the habit in smokers and users of smokeless tobacco have not been published yet.We attempt to address this lacuna in knowledge in reducing dependence on tobacco use by Gabapentin. METHODS Our study involves 150 study subjects, 75 of whom were identified as chronic users of tobacco and assigned randomly to one of the three groups consisting of 25 subjects each. Gabapentin in tablet form was prescribed thrice a day for 8 weeks wherein Group 1 received a dose of 300mg, Group-2 received 600mg, and Group-3 was prescribed 900 mg. An age and sex matched control group have received calcium tablets as placebo in three times daily dose for a period of 8 weeks. RESULTS Among the three doses of Gabapentin, stoppage of habit was reported to be highest in the group-2 followed by group 1 and group 3 respectively. In our study, we found differences in response to quitting tobacco use between duration of habit prior to pharmacologic intervention amongst both smokers and the users of smokeless tobacco. CONCLUSIONS Gabapentin at dose of 600mg TDS has optimum effect. Smokers having smoking for more than ten years showed notable benefit with Gabapentin. Among smokeless tobacco users who quit tobacco dependence was better having history of habit less than 2 years.