Pharmacy residents and students as an adjunct to current smoking cessation education

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of individualized tobacco cessation counseling provided by pharmacy residents and students to patients in the inpatient setting at an academic medical center.

Documented tobacco users were evaluated for study inclusion. The intervention group received counseling specific to their readiness to quit. After discharge, patients in the intervention group received weekly phone calls for additional counseling and data collection. One month after discharge, the standard therapy group received one phone call for data collection.

No significant differences were found between groups for demographic variables or number of years smoking. At baseline, the intervention group reported significantly fewer quit attempts and more packs per day than the control group. The odds ratio (OR) for the primary outcome, abstinence, was 1.68 [95%CI=0.29:9.748] favoring the intervention group. The OR for patients using outpatient pharmacotherapy was 3.20 [95%CI=0.484:21.167] for the intervention group compared to the control group. The percentage of patients using outpatient treatment programs was 5.26% in the control group vs. 0% in the intervention group.

Results showed a trend toward significance for abstinence and increased use of outpatient pharmacotherapy; however, our sample size and study period limit conclusions that may be drawn. Further study is warranted for definitive results.