Impacts of pharmacist-led smoking cessation program on patients with chronic diseases in a Thai community hospital

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.