A Cochrane review «Anxiolytics for smoking cessation»1 «Hughes JR, Stead LF, Lancaster T. Anxiolytics for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2000;(4):CD002849 (Last assessed as up-to-date: 4 October 2009). »1 included 7 studies with a total of 1 005 subjects. There was one trial each of the anxiolytics diazepam, meprobamate, metoprolol and oxprenolol and two trials of the anxiolytic buspirone. None of the trials showed strong evidence of an effect in helping smokers to quit. Confidence intervals were wide, and an effect of anxiolytics cannot be ruled out on current evidence.
Comment: The quality of evidence was downgraded by sparse data and study limitations (inadequate allocation concealment).