Effectiveness of Combined Therapy for Smoking Cessation in Adults Enrolled in a Primary Care Health Home Program
Abstract
Cigarette smoking is a public health problem that puts individuals at increased risk for cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, and lung disease. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Clinical Practice Guideline for smoking cessation recommends using a combination of behavioral interventions and pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. This quasi-experimental single cohort pre/post test, evidence-based quality improvement project aims to determine if the combination of counseling and pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation increases smoking cessation rates and decreases nicotine dependence levels in those enrolled in the project at a primary care clinic. The evidence-based improvement project was implemented at a Federally Qualified Health Care designated primary care facility.
A modified version of the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence was used as a pretest and post-test to evaluate the participants' smoking status and nicotine dependence. Participants with higher nicotine dependence levels who used combined therapy for smoking cessation did not have increased smoking cessation rates than those with lower pre-smoking nicotine dependence rates (X² (4, N = 13) = 4.28, p = 1.0). There was no significant decrease in nicotine dependence (M = 4.85, SD= 2.48) for those who use combined therapy. Incidentally, 92% of the program participants suffered from a mental illness diagnosis which may have impacted the smoking cessation rates. Clinics with a Primary Care Health Home program may benefit from additional research on medication(s) and behavioral interventions that are most effective for those with underlying mental illness.
Degree
D.N.P.
Thesis Department
Rights
Open Access (fully available)
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