Evaluation of an Intensive Education Program on the Treatment of Tobacco Use Disorder for Pharmacists: a Randomized Controlled Trial

NCT ID: NCT03518476

Last Updated: 2021-03-11

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 164 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2018-09-14
• Study Completion Date: 2019-09-30

Brief Summary

In Qatar, tobacco use is one of the main causes of premature deaths and preventable diseases. As per the 2013 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 12.1% of adults and 20.2% of men in Qatar smoke tobacco, and 55.4% of this smoke an average of 16 cigarettes or more per day. Moreover, 15.7% of school students aged 13 to 15 years currently use some form of tobacco according to the 2013 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS). In Qatar, tobacco-related diseases including cardiovascular diseases and cancers are highly prevalent. In an effort to reduce tobacco use, Qatar has ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and has implemented many tobacco control initiatives. In spite of these measures, tobacco use is still rising in Qatar. Pharmacists practicing in retail/community pharmacy are often the first port of call for individuals requiring health advice in general. Evidence has proven that they have a pivotal role in health promotion and disease prevention including tobacco cessation. Hence, pharmacists have excellent opportunities to reduce tobacco use in Qatar. Yet, ambulatory and community pharmacists in Qatar are not sufficiently contributing to tobacco control. Based on published data, only 21% of community pharmacists in Qatar always or most of the time ask patients about their smoking status. Furthermore, when asked about their smoking cessation training, 89% of pharmacists did not receive any kind of education or training about smoking cessation counseling in the past. In an effort to build the capacity of pharmacists in Qatar, the aim of the proposed study is to design, implement and evaluate an intensive education program on tobacco treatment for pharmacists in Qatar. The study will be a prospective randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of the education program on pharmacists' tobacco cessation-related knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and skills.

Conditions

Smoking Cessation

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Intervention arm

Participants in the intervention group will participate in an intensive education program delivered by a multi-disciplinary group of educators, researchers, and clinicians with expertise in tobacco control and tobacco dependence treatment. The program will be delivered over 4 days (run over 2 weekends) with an average of eight contact hours per day (a total of 32 contact hours) at Qatar University.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

intensive multi-disciplinary education program on tobacco treatment for pharmacists

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants in the intervention group will participate in an intensive education program delivered by a multi-disciplinary group of educators, researchers, and clinicians with expertise in tobacco control and tobacco dependence treatment. The program will be delivered over 4 days (run over 2 weekends) with an average of eight contact hours per day (a total of 32 contact hours) at Qatar University.

Control arm

Non-tobacco related training or education sessions will delivered to pharmacists in the control group.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Control arm

Intervention Type: OTHER

Participants in control arm will receive a non-tobacco related training or educational session

Interventions

intensive multi-disciplinary education program on tobacco treatment for pharmacists

Participants in the intervention group will participate in an intensive education program delivered by a multi-disciplinary group of educators, researchers, and clinicians with expertise in tobacco control and tobacco dependence treatment. The program will be delivered over 4 days (run over 2 weekends) with an average of eight contact hours per day (a total of 32 contact hours) at Qatar University.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Control arm

Participants in control arm will receive a non-tobacco related training or educational session

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Retail/community pharmacists practicing in Qatar will be eligible for participation in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

• None

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Hamad Medical Corporation

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

International Islamic University Malaysia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Auckland, New Zealand

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Qatar University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Dr. Maguy El Hajj

Associate Professor and Chair of Clinical Pharmacy and Practice Section

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Qatar Univeristy

Doha, , Qatar

Countries

Qatar

References

El Hajj MS, Awaisu A, Nik Mohamed MH, Saleh RA, Al Hamad NM, Kheir N, Mahfoud ZR. Assessment of an intensive education program for pharmacists on treatment of tobacco use disorder using an objective structured clinical examination: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Med Educ. 2022 Apr 18;22(1):289. doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03331-9.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 35436957 (View on PubMed)

El Hajj MS, Awaisu A, Kheir N, Mohamed MHN, Haddad RS, Saleh RA, Alhamad NM, Almulla AM, Mahfoud ZR. Evaluation of an intensive education program on the treatment of tobacco-use disorder for pharmacists: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2019 Jan 8;20(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-3068-7.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 30621772 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

QatarU

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id