Sarwar Hussain

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Introduction Smokers with concurrent depression are less likely to achieve abstinence, even with pharmacotherapy. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to evaluate if presence of any depressive symptoms at baseline alters the effectiveness of bupropion and varenicline for smoking cessation. Methods Eligible participants were enrolled via...

Background Technology has made automated care personalization practical, but useful personalization requires information about systematic differences between individuals in the effectiveness of different interventions. Here, we used observational data to search for differences in smoking cessation treatment outcomes associated with interactions bet...

Background: The emergence of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has introduced additional pressures on an already fragile mental healthcare system due to significant rise in depression, anxiety and stress among Canadians. While Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is known to be an efficacious treatment to reduce such mental health issues, few people hav...

BACKGROUND The emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has introduced additional pressures on an already fragile mental health care system due to a significant rise in depression, anxiety, and stress among Canadians. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is known to be an efficacious treatment to reduce such mental health issues, few pe...

Background Traditional randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. However, accessibility to treatments remains a barrier, necessitating the remote delivery of evidence-based cessation interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an online treatment that included...

Background Tobacco dependence follows a chronic and relapsing course, but most treatment programmes are short. Extended care has been shown to improve outcomes. Examining use patterns for longer term programmes can quantify resource requirements and identify opportunities for improving retention. Methods We analyse 38 094 primary care treatment ep...

Introduction Smoking behaviour shows seasonal variation, with cigarette consumption and youth smoking onset highest in summer and smoking-related web searches and sales of nicotine replacement products highest in winter. Variation in demand for clinical care and in outcomes has not been explored. Methods We measure seasonal variation in enrolments...

Background Provision of evidence-based smoking cessation treatment may contribute to health disparities if barriers to treatment are greater for more disadvantaged groups. We describe and evaluate the public health impact of a novel outreach program to improve access to smoking cessation treatment in Ontario, Canada. Methods We partnered with Publi...

Background: Varenicline and bupropion are efficacious, prescription-only pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation; however, their real-world impact is limited by prescriber knowledge, affordability, and accessibility. Objective: The primary objective of the MATCH (Medication Aids for Tobacco Cessation Health) study was to evaluate the real-world,...

BACKGROUND Varenicline and bupropion are efficacious, prescription-only pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation; however, their real-world impact is limited by prescriber knowledge, affordability, and accessibility. OBJECTIVE The primary objective of the MATCH (Medication Aids for Tobacco Cessation Health) study was to evaluate the real-world, lon...

Objective To develop and encourage the adoption of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for smoking cessation in Canada by engaging stakeholders in the adaptation of existing high-quality CPGs using principles of the ADAPTE framework. Methods An independent expert body in guideline review conducted a review and identified six existing CPGs, which m...

Introduction: Providing free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can be a cost-effective strategy for increasing quit attempts and cessation rates at a population level. However, the optimal amount of NRT to provide is unknown. Associations between duration of NRT use and abstinence may be overestimated as a result of reverse causality due to disco...

Background Varenicline and bupropion, efficacious smoking cessation medications, have had suboptimal impact due to barriers at the patient, practitioner and system level. This study explored the feasibility of a web-assisted tobacco intervention offering free prescription smoking cessation medication by mail if the smoker visited a physician for au...

Bupropion is an efficacious non-nicotine medication for smoking cessation; however, its cessation-mediating mechanism is unclear. This randomized, placebo-controlled trial examined the effect of bupropion SR (300 mg/day for 6 weeks) on plasma cotinine and on the subjective effects of smoking in 24 current daily smokers who were not trying to quit o...