Comparison of the trans-cranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and Bupropion on treatment of nicotine-dependent smokers.

compare the efficacy of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation with bupropion in the treatment of nicotine addicts

Five arm parallel group randomized sham-controlled trial with blinded participants and outcome assessors.

Bupropion treatment starts at 150 mg for one week, then 300 mg for 8 weeks, and stopping cigarettes will begin in the second week of intervention started. the position of the anode and the cathode in accordance with the standard location of the 20/20, anode is F3, and cathode is F4. The stimulation intensity in the active stimulation group is 2 mA for 20 minutes and in the sham groups is only 30 seconds. The electrodes used in these groups were made of carbon and inside the salt-impregnated sponge with an anode size of 35 and a cathode of 100 centimeters. The outcomes will be measured at the baseline (1), end of interventions (2) and the end of six months of fallow up (3), and point abstinence prevalence will be compared with drug therapy A at this time. The fallow up period is the same for all groups and is 6 months from the start of the intervention.

participants of this study select with the public invitation from right-handed 15 - 65 years old smokers, that nicotine addicted according to DSM 5.

These study interventions included 5 groups: 1) Bupropion medication, 2) Active tDCS (20 sessions/4 weeks), 3) Sham tDCS (20 sessions/4 weeks), 4) Active tDCS (20 sessions/12 weeks) and 5) Sham tDCS (20 sessions/12 weeks).

the outcomes of this study consist of Salivary Cotinine, Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Cigarette Per Day (CPD), Tobacco Craving Questionnaire-Short Form and Quantitative Electroencephalogram (QEEG)

Vice chancellor for research of Shahrud University of Medical Sciences

In this study, for random sequencing generation, random allocation rule from restricted randomization with similar spheres was done , witch designed by a team of analyzers of the research group. In order to allocation concealment sequentially numbered, sealed, opaque envelops were used that were kept by our research center reception and were implemented by them, and thus, participants were assigned in their groups.

The method of the blindness of this study was that all interventions were performed by the researcher and carried out tests, recorded results and analyzed by other research partners. So that the intervener was unaware of the outcome of the interventions, and other research partners were unaware of the types of interventions of each group.