Comparison of an intensive pharmacist-managed telephone clinic with standard of care for tobacco cessation in a veteran population.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of the Pharmacist-Managed Telephone Tobacco Cessation Clinic (PMTTCC) compared to the standard of care (SOC) at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.


METHODS
A retrospective cohort study was performed investigating the proportion of veterans who quit smoking at 6 months while enrolled in the PMTTCC. Chart review was performed using the Veterans Affairs Computerized Patient Record System. The PMTTCC group included patients who had received medication and counseling from the tobacco cessation pharmacists. The cohort was compared to a matched SOC group who did not receive counseling, only tobacco cessation medication therapy through a primary care provider. The primary outcome for this study was patient-reported tobacco cessation at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were abstinence at 1 and 3 months.


RESULTS
A total of 1,006 patients were included in the analysis, 503 patients from the PMTTCC and 503 patients from SOC. The overall study population was 54 years old on average, 92.5% male, 70.0% Caucasian, 45.5% with history of psychiatric conditions, and had an average smoking history of 33-pack years. Patients in the PMTTCC group had statistically significant improvements in abstinence at 6 months versus the SOC group (81/503, 16.1% vs. 48/503, 9.5%; p < .0001). Quitters were older on average versus non-quitters (56.03 vs. 53.65 years; p = .01).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients enrolled in the PMTTCC had improved tobacco abstinence rates at 6 months compared to SOC. Although the study was not designed to test for causality, the results lend support for using intensive tobacco cessation management in veteran population.
Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, USA timothy.chen@va.gov.
Timothy
T
Chen
Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, USA.
Rashid
R
Kazerooni
Kaiser Permanente, San Diego, CA, USA.
Erin M
EM
Vannort
Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
Khanh
K
Nguyen
Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
Stacey
S
Nguyen
Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
Jessica
J
Harris
Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
Mark
M
Bounthavong
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002140:California; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D013689:Telephone; D061485:Tobacco Use Cessation Devices; D014728:Veterans
cessation; health promotion; tobacco prevention and control