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This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a smartphone application named Quit with US among young adult smokers. An open-label, parallel, 2-group, randomized controlled trial with a 12-week follow-up was conducted between March and November 2020 among undergraduate students (18 to 24 years) in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. A total of 273 participants were assigned by simple randomization procedure to the Quit with US intervention group (n = 137) or the control group (n = 136). All participants received pharmacists’ smoking cessation counseling at baseline and follow-ups. In addition, the intervention group’s participants were advised to use Quit with US. The baseline and 12-week follow-up assessments were conducted at a study unit, whereas other follow-ups were completed over the telephone. The primary abstinence outcome was the exhaled CO concentration level (≤6 ppm) verified 7-day point prevalence abstinence. At baseline, the participants’ mean (standard deviation) age was 21.06 (1.62) years. Most identified as daily smokers (57.9%, n = 158), consumed ≤10 cigarettes daily (89.4%, n = 244), and expressed low level of nicotine dependence as measured by Heaviness of Smoking Index score (86.1%, n = 235). Regarding intention-to-treat analyses, participants in the Quit with US intervention group achieved significantly greater smoking abstinence rate than those in the control group (58.4% (80/137) vs. 30.9% (42/136), risk ratio = 1.89, 95% confidence intervals = 1.42 to 2.52, p < 0.001). In conclusion, Quit with US integrated with pharmacists’ smoking cessation counseling significantly enhanced smoking abstinence rates among young adult light smokers consuming ≤ 10 cigarettes daily.

This study aimed to report the effectiveness of community pharmacy smoking cessation services in 13 health regions in Thailand using a retrospective data-collecting method from the Foundation of Community Pharmacy database. The participants were smokers aged at least 18 years. The outcomes were the abstinence of smoking at least 30 consecutive days by self-report only and self-report with exhaled CO level &lt, 7 ppm (if available), the number of cigarettes smoked daily, exhaled carbon monoxide (exhaled CO), and % peak expiratory flow rate (%PEFR), smokers measured these outcomes before and after receiving the smoking cessation services. Of 58 community pharmacies, 532 smokers (93% male, mean age of 42.4 ± 14.9 years) received smoking cessation services from community pharmacists. Of 235 smokers with complete data, 153 (28.8%, 153/532) smokers reported smoking abstinence by self-report. The mean number of cigarettes smoked daily reduced from 15.3 ± 8.7 to 1.9 ± 3.8 cigarettes, p-value &lt, 0.001. The exhaled CO levels of smokers significantly reduced from 11.7 ± 5.9 ppm to 7.2 ± 4.4 ppm, p-value &lt, 0.001. The %PEFR also significantly increased from 84.2 ± 19.4 to 89.5 ± 19.5, p-value &lt, 0.001. In conclusion, Thai community pharmacy smoking cessation services could aid smokers to quit smoking. This study is the outcome of the real-world community pharmacy smoking cessation service, policymakers should consider this service to be included in the national healthcare policy.

Background and aim Vernonia cinerea (VC) is a herb that can alleviate nicotine addiction, potentially aiding in smoking cessation. Previous studies have examined four-to eight-week treatments using VC, but have found it to be ineffective. This study aimed to evaluate the smoking cessation effects of VC in addicted smokers over a longer treatment duration with pastilles. Experimental procedure This was a randomized double-blinded controlled trial conducted at a community pharmacy. The inclusion criteria were age between 18 and 60 years, intention to quit smoking, and low to moderate level of nicotine addiction. All eligible participants were stratified according to nicotine addiction level and then randomly assigned either VC treatment or placebo. The VC group received two pastilles three times daily, while the control group received a placebo for 12 weeks. The outcomes were continuous abstinence rate (CAR) and point abstinence rate (PAR) at four and 12 weeks. Results There were 121 eligible participants; 10 participants were not willing to participate. In total, there were 111 eligible participants, 54 of whom were treated with VC (48.65%) and 57 of whom were given a placebo (51.35%). Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups. The VC group had a significantly higher chance of smoking cessation at 2.01 (95% CI of 1.03, 3.92) compared with the placebo group at the end of the study. There were no significant side effects in either group. Conclusion The VC pastille group had significantly higher CAR than the placebo group at week 12., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • Vernonia cinerea (VC) is a potential herb for smoking cessation. • Several studies show non-significant results on smoking cessation by VC. • This is the first study showed that VC is effective for smoking cessation.

Background: Cytisine is a prospective pharmacological alternative for community pharmacy smoking cessation services. However, it has not yet been licensed because of a lack of efficacy and safety information in Thailand. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cytisine in combination with community pharmacists’ counselling on smoking cessation in a community pharmacy in ThailandDesign. Setting, participants, and interventions: A double-blinded randomized placebo-controlled trials was carried out. Participants aged >18 years old who smoked >10 tobaccos/day were randomly assigned to receive cytisine or placebo and five sessions of counselling by a community pharmacist. The primary outcome was a continuous abstinence rate (CAR) at week 48. The CAR was also measured at weeks 2, 4, 12, and 24. Adverse events were monitored. Results: A total of 132 participants were included, with 67 receiving cytisine and 65 receiving a placebo. Approximately 95% of participants were male. The CARs were determined to be 14.93% and 6.15% for cytisine and placebo, respectively, at week 48. The relative risk (RR) was 2.41 (95% confidence interval (CI); 0.80–7.35, p = 0.102). The RRs for CAR at weeks 2, 4, 12, and 24 were 2.43, 2.91, 2.50, and 1.78, respectively. Only the RRs for weeks 2, 4, and 12 were statistically significant. Common and non-serious gastrointestinal and neurological adverse events were observed. Conclusion: Cytisine, when combined with community pharmacists’ counselling, did not statistically improve the CAR at week 48, although it did improve the CAR at weeks 2, 4, and 12. Adverse events of cytisine were common and non-serious (registration number: TCTR20180312001).

Background: Smoking cessation is crucial to minimize cardiovascular risks of patients with chronic diseases, but the outcomes of the pharmacist-run program in hospitals have not been fully assessed. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the pharmacist-led program impacts on patients9 smoking cessation and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks with a one-year follow-up. Methods: A one-group intervention study was conducted in current smoking outpatients with hypertension and/or diabetes. They were initially assessed for cigarette smoking, stages of change and Framingham 10-year CVD risks, and then were counseled on its quitting and appropriate medicines. They were followed up for interim quit rates and relevant outcomes via telephone in weeks 1 and 2 and via attendance in weeks 4, 8, 24 and 52. Data were analyzed using a Chi-squared test and ANOVA with the significance level of 0.05. Results: A total of 176 patients, i.e., those with hypertension (59.7%), diabetes (33.5%) or both (6.8%), could significantly reduce the number of cigarettes per day from 12.4 (SD=7.9) at baseline to 2.7 (SD=3.5) in week 52 (p=0.001). The continuous abstinence rate reported in week 52 was overall 30.7%. The stages of change significantly moved from “pre-contemplation” to “maintenance”, albeit few relapses (5.1%), at the end (p=0.001). Patients with high-to-very-high risks reduced from 32.6% to 24.4% in week 52. The average reduction in CVD risk scores was identified from 18.4% to 13.5% (p=0.001). Conclusions: The pharmacist-led smoking cessation program has positive impacts on patients with chronic diseases in terms of significant quit rates and decreased 10-year CVD risks.