Community Pharmacies’ Promotion of Smoking Cessation Support Services in Saudi Arabia: Examining Current Practice and Barriers

Abstract

Background: Community pharmacists’ interventions have been found to be highly effective. However, to date, there has been little information about pharmacists’ potential roles and perceived barriers to providing smoking cessation. This study aimed to assess the potential role of community pharmacists in supporting their patients to quit smoking by summarizing their self-reported level of current activities, confidence, and perceived barriers; Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was used for a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia. As part of the questionnaire, demographic characteristics were measured, as well as confidence, perceived berries, and level of smoking cessation activities (asking, advising, assessing, assisting, and arranging, including follow-up).; Results: 370 community pharmacists practicing responded to the survey. Pharmacists indicated high activity rates about advising and assessing patients in quitting smoking, with lower rates of assisting and arranging, including following up. The rate of recording smoking status was very low. There were significant differences between gender, source of education, years practicing as a licensed pharmacist, attended an education or training program on smoking cessation, and interest in providing smoking and perceived practice of smoking cessation. Pharmacists are confident about providing smoking cessation activities. Barriers to providing smoking cessation services include unable to follow up, lack of counseling space, lack of educational materials, and lack of time.; Conclusions: Saudi Arabian community pharmacists actively offer smoking cessation services, which may reduce smoking-related health issues. It appears that pharmacists need to be empowered by team-based, systematic, comprehensive approaches to overcome barriers and enhance their confidence.

Migraine Management in Community Pharmacies: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Patterns of Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia

“…Male pharmacists had more positive overall scores than female pharmacists. This finding broadly supports the work of Alzahrani et al on smoking cessation, linking community pharmacists' genders with providing smoking cessation activities [47]. This observation may reflect Saudi socio-cultural norms, discouraging female healthcare professionals from discussing or providing services to male patients.…”

Hospital Pharmacy Professionals and Cardiovascular Care: A Cross-Sectional Study Assessing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Saudi Arabia

“…These included lack of time, lack of private counseling, and low patient expectations regarding the role of pharmacists in CVD prevention and management. These barriers have already been identified in previous studies [10,14,27,28].…”