Effect of a Smoking Cessation Education Program on the Knowledge, Attitude, and Self-Efficacy of Community Pharmacists in Japan: A Quasi-Experimental Study

BackgroundSupporting smoking cessation at pharmacies can be challenging owing to difficulties in recruiting smokers to participate in cessation programs, insufficient communication skills among pharmacists, and lack of knowledge and self-efficacy in successfully quitting smoking in Japan.ObjectiveThis study evaluates the effectiveness of a smoking cessation training program on community pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy in supporting smoking cessation.MethodsThe study, conducted in Japanese pharmacies with 100 community pharmacists, employed a quasi-experimental design. Two online training programs were implemented. Participants completed a web-based survey assessing their knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy in supporting smoking cessation before, immediately after, and 1 year after the training program. A two-way analysis of variance with a mixed model was used to examine score changes at each time point.ResultsTotal knowledge scores significantly increased between baseline and immediately after training and baseline and 1 year after training. The total attitude scores between baseline and immediately after training differed significantly. However, no differences were noted between baseline and 1 year after training. Total self-efficacy scores significantly increased at baseline, immediately after training, and between baseline and 1 year after training. Despite no significant interactions between the programs, there was a partial interaction effect on knowledge, with only the customized program having items whose knowledge levels improved after 1 year.Conclusion and RelevanceThe training program improved community pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy regarding smoking cessation support. The customized program must be reinforced to improve support performance and maintain attitude.