Objective: To identify the background of outpatients experiencing nausea as a side effect of varenicline in our smoking cessation clinic.
Subjects and Methods: We included 261 patients (211 men and 50 women) who had taken varenicline in the smoking cessation clinic at the Red Cross Society Takatsuki Hospital from May 2008 to April 2014. First, we compared the patients’ backgrounds according to whether they developed nausea induced by varenicline. Next, we assessed the factors associated with nausea induced by varenicline using multiple logistic regression analyses.
Results: Out of the 261 patients, 80 patients (30.7%; 54 men and 26 women) experienced nausea. The smokers who experienced nausea included greater percentages of those who were female, had a lower e-GFR. Smokers who experienced nausea were significantly older, shorter, had a lower body weight and a long-term smoking habit compared to those who did not. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the female gender and a lower e-GFR were significantly and independently related to nausea induced by varenicline.
Discussion and Conclusions: Female gender and lower e-GFR are independent factors associated with the development of nausea induced by varenicline. For patients with a high risk of nausea caused by varenicline, dose reduction of varenicline to decrease the frequency of nausea might be tried.

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