(1208) Impact of a Pharmacist-led Smoking Cessation Service on Changes in Patients’ Attitudes Towards Smoking and Changes in Behavioral Measures

Objectives: The primary objective is to examine the impact of a pharmacist-led smoking cessation service on changes in patients’ attitudes towards smoking in a community pharmacy setting. Secondary objectives of the study are to examine the impact on behavioral measures including the number nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) prescriptions being picked up, adherence to NRT, and self-reported smoking cessation.

Methods: The study will be a prospective, longitudinal, pre- and post- survey, single-center study conducted over a total period of approximately 5 months. The study center is a community pharmacy chain located within a 238-bed acute care and outpatient hospital in the Midwest. Eligible participants include those aged 18 years or older who smoke tobacco cigarettes and are wanting to quit or who are in the process of quitting. Participants will be excluded if they do not use tobacco cigarettes. Participants will be identified at the pickup counter inside the pharmacy and asked if they would be interested in receiving help to quit smoking. The estimated sample size is 75 participants. An enrollment period of approximately 2 months will be used to collect eligible participants and their initial Attitude Towards Smoking Scale (ATS-18) survey, a self-administered questionnaire in either written or oral form. This will be followed by a 2-month intervention period incorporated into workflow during which pharmacists will conduct biweekly telephone visits with the participants and provide behavioral support for smoking cessation. This behavioral support will include the 5 A’s of smoking cessation (ask, advise, assess, assist, and arrange) during which a pharmacist will also request NRT to the patient’s provider if requested on their behalf. If a patient is using NRT, refill adherence will be calculated after each encounter. At the conclusion of the intervention period, participants will then retake the ATS-18. A paired t-test analysis will be conducted for the items between pre- and post-survey. Behavioral measures such as number of NRT prescriptions picked up, adherence to NRT, and self-reported smoking cessation will also be collected at the time points of pre- and post-survey for a period of two months prior to each survey and will also be analyzed using paired t-tests. Study design and survey occurred in August 2023. Enrollment and initial data collection will occur in September 2023 and end in February 2024. Data analysis will occur from February through March 2023.

Results: The study started data collection in September 2023 and will continue to collect data through February 2024.

Conclusions: The conclusion of a pharmacist-led smoking cessation service’s impact on changes in patients’ attitudes towards smoking and changes in behavioral measures will be found at the completion of the study.