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. 2024 Feb 22:10.
doi: 10.18332/tpc/183775. eCollection 2024.

Barriers to implementation of smoking cessation support among healthcare professionals in the secondary healthcare sector: A qualitative and quantitative evaluation

Camilla Uhre Jørgensen  1 , Anders Løkke  1   2 , Peter Hjorth  2   3 , Charlotta Pisinger  4   5 , Ingeborg Farver-Vestergaard  1   2
Affiliations

Barriers to implementation of smoking cessation support among healthcare professionals in the secondary healthcare sector: A qualitative and quantitative evaluation

Camilla Uhre Jørgensen et al. Tob Prev Cessat. .

Abstract

Introduction: Smoking cessation support (SCS) in the hospital is essential; patients often struggle to maintain quit attempts, which necessitates assistance from healthcare professionals (HCPs). However, unknown barriers can obstruct the implementation of SCS in hospitals. This study aims to uncover barriers to the implementation of SCS in psychiatric, somatic, inpatient, and outpatient hospital settings.

Methods: In the period from June to September 2021, HCPs in a large secondary care hospital in the Region of Southern Denmark completed an online, cross-sectional study, providing sociodemographic details and listing potential barriers to SCS. They also shared additional barriers in the form of free-text responses. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of free-text responses were performed.

Results: Of 1645 HCPs surveyed, 409 elaborated their response in the free-text field assessing unlisted barriers. Top listed barriers, reported by more than one-third of participants, included: 'lack of time' (45.1%), 'lack of patient motivation' (34.3%), and 'insufficient knowledge on how to support' (32.2%). Free-text responses revealed three barrier-related, which we grouped under the themes of: 'Concerned about the patient', 'Not part of my job', and 'Inappropriate setting'.

Conclusions: This quantitative and qualitative study identifies barriers to SCS on multiple levels in the hospital setting, i.e. on the patient, provider, and organizational levels. These results can inform healthcare organizations and professionals in the implementation of SCS in routine hospital care.

Keywords: addiction; health services; hospital care; mixed-methods.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have each completed and submitted an ICMJE form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. The authors declare that they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise, related to the current work. C. Pisinger, reports that the Tryg Foundation (a Danish non-profit foundation) sponsored her professorship. The foundation had no influence on the choice of study, study design, conduct, or analysis and had not seen the results of the study. She is also a member of the advisory boards of Røgfri Fremtid (the Smoke-Free Future Alliance) and Stopbasen (a national smoking cessation database). A. Løkke, reports grants or contracts from AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Chiesi, not related to the present study. He also reports payments from GSK, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Chiesi, and supported for attending meetings from Boehringer Ingelheim and Chiesi.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant selection flow-chart, cross-sectional online survey performed in 2021 among HCPs in a large secondary care hospital (N=1645)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Barriers to smoking cessation support, rank ordered by frequency, cross-sectional online survey performed in 2021 among HCPs in a large secondary care hospital (N=1645)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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