Pharmacists' desire for tobacco cessation intervention in West Virginia

Objective: West Virginia (WV) is among the states with highest prevalence of tobacco-related illnesses. The objective of this study was to assess the desire of pharmacists to offer tobacco cessation interventions at their practice settings. Methods: Pharmacists were identified from the WV continuing education database and randomly selected to complete a survey to describe: their practice setting, personal use of tobacco products and health history, family/friends' lung cancer history, history of tobacco counseling, and their desire to offer a tobacco cessation intervention. Additionally, the survey asked about different types of interventions that pharmacists would like to offer. Mixed methods approach was adopted for data analysis using IBM SPSS version 20.0. Results: Of 199 survey responses(response rate around 20%), most pharmacists were interested in pharmacy-based tobacco cessation interventions(66%) or providing counseling sessions to patients(88%). Qualitative data revealed additional preferred interventions: programs providing a short-term supply of smoking cessation products at low/no-cost for the underinsured; and educational programs for youth “before they get started“. However, others were resistant to provide any smoking cessation activities due to time constraints. Multiple regression analysis indicated that settings with more pharmacists(βstd=.17), having a friend with lung cancer(βstd =.24), currently promoting tobacco cessation(βstd =.23), and having personally counseled patients in cessation(βstd =.19) were associated with greater interest in interventions(F(4,127)=7.44, p<.001). Conclusions: Barriers, such as practice setting policies (e.g. staffing), time constraints and financial considerations prevent pharmacists from providing smoking cessation interventions. This highlights that pharmacists can encourage their patients to quit tobacco use and adopt healthy-lifestyle practices.