Smoking-cessation services in Iowa community pharmacies

Study Objective. To examine community pharmacy practice with regard to providing smoking-cessation counseling. Design. Mailed survey. Setting. Iowa community pharmacies. Participants. A stratified random sample of pharmacists statewide. Measurements and Main Results. Descriptive statistics were computed for all study variables. Fisher exact test or chi(2) analysis was performed on selected variables to determine the relationship of each item with pharmacists routinely offering smokers suggestions for quitting. Responses from 129 (38.2%) of 338 pharmacists indicated that although most felt it is important to offer smoking-cessation counseling, about half actually offer this service. Most pharmacists indicated they are prepared to provide counseling, but fewer than 25% had received formal training or were aware of national clinical practice guidelines. Those who had received specific training (p=0.020) or recently attended an educational program (p=0.014) on smoking cessation were more likely to counsel smokers. Primary barriers to providing counseling were lack of time, inability to identify smokers, low patient demand, and lack of reimbursement. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that opportunities exist for improving pharmacist education and reducing practice barriers in order to bridge the. gap between pharmacists' knowledge and attitudes related to smoking-cessation counseling and their provision of patient counseling in community pharmacy practice.