Transdermal Nicotine for the Treatment of Mood and Cognitive Symptoms in Nonsmokers With Late-Life Depression

What Was Tested

This clinical trial looks at Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

Late-life depression (LLD) is characterized by poor antidepressant response and cognitive dysfunction.

Who Took Part

The study group was 15 adults.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

In a 12-week open-label outpatient study conducted between November 2016 and August 2017, transdermal nicotine was given to 15 nonsmoking older adults (≥ 60 years of age).

Eligible participants met DSM-IV-TR criteria for major depressive disorder with ≥ 15 on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating scale (MADRS) and endorsed subjective cognitive impairment.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was an open-label study.

Nothing was hidden in this open-label Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study: the adults and staff both knew the treatment.

The primary cognitive outcome was the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT), a test of attention.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Administration, Cutaneous, Affect, Cognitive Dysfunction, Major Depressive Disorder, Late Onset Disorders, Nicotine and Nicotinic Agonists.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is an open-label study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) in 15 adults.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 7 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2018 (The Journal of clinical psychiatry), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) compound page, all human trials.