Nicotine dependence and depression among methadone maintenance patients.

There recently has been increasing interest at substance abuse treatment centers in smoking cessation treatment. Because a history of depression has been shown in other populations to complicate cessation efforts, the relationship between depression and nicotine dependence was tested in 726 methadone patients. Elevated odds of nicotine dependence given depression were found with three of four depression measures. Additional research is recommended to determine whether smoking cessation treatment will be more successful for methadone patients with a history of depression if it also addresses depression.