[Smoking cessation with the help of community pharmacists]

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the outcome of a protocol for smoking cessation used in the practice of the community pharmacies.

Design: Observational descriptive study of a non pharmacological intervention, without parallel control.

Setting and participants: Urban community pharmacies in the province of Trieste (n=60). Data have been collected by 31 pharmacists representing 31 pharmacies (52%).

Main outcome measures: Outcome of a brief intervention aimed to promote the use of nicotine replacement (NRT) or to refer to a smoking cessation clinic.

Results: Data of 905 smokers have been analysed: 16.1% (CI 95%: 11.6%-20.5%) purchased NRT and 11.1% (CI 95%: 7.8%-14.5%) accepted to be referred to a smoking cessation clinic. The assessment of the degree of motivation to stop smoking and of the degree of nicotine dependence, according to West, is highly associated to the outcome of the intervention.

Conclusion: The study encourages the use of no-smoking programs in the community pharmacies. Intervention must be short and simple. West's assessment system is useful and reliable for smokers' evaluation and for decisions regarding the therapeutic strategy of smoking cessation.