Survey on support for smoking cessation for heated tobacco products users by pharmacists: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: We investigated the current status and necessity of cessation support for heated tobacco products
(HTPs) users by pharmacists. Moreover, the results of this study were compared with those of the 2017 survey.
We confirmed the improvement of cessation support for HTPs users in community pharmacy, and clarified future issues.
Methods: A survey was sent to 300 pharmacists in community pharmacies in the Tokyo metropolitan area
(survey period: October 2020-December 2020). This study is a cross-sectional study compared to the 2017
survey.
Results: The questionnaire response rate was 50.0% (150/300 pharmacists). Compared with the 2017 survey, the non-smoking environment in pharmacies and smoking cessation assistance for HTPs users improved.
More pharmacists felt the need for smoking cessation assistance for HTPs users than in the previous survey.
However, the implementation rate of smoking cessation assistance for HTPs users was lower than that for smoking cessation assistance for cigarette smokers.
Conclusion: Support for smoking cessation by pharmacists for HTPs users has improved compared with three years ago, but the implementation rate needs to be further increased.