The Future of Smoking Cessation

Abstract

Introduction: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world. Although health professionals have the duty to alert and refer patients to Smoking Cessation, the waiting list for Smoking Cessation Appointment, often exceeds human resources and health services infrastructures. In order to solve this problem an initial group appointment in Smoking Cessation was created in our hospital.

Material and Methods: To the first group appointment were summoned the maximum number of patients that could be scheduled within 2 weeks. This appointment was performed in a training room, where questionnaires were fulfilled and a powerpoint presentation was made that clarified the purpose and methodology of the Smoking Cessation programme. In the end, individual appointments were scheduled. Patients took with them a leaflet to record smoking habits and pertinent information. The authors compare the number of appointments and the waiting list at the end of 2017 versus the end of 2019, 2018 was the year in which this group appointment was introduced.

Results: Between 2017 and 2019 there was an increase in the number of consultations made (from 145 to 363) and a decrease in average time on the waiting list. By the end of 2017 to the end of 2019 the number of days on the waiting list went from 334 from 24. At the end of 2017 we had 148 patients in the waiting list, at the end of 2019 we only had 20 patients.

Conclusion: The implementation of a first smoking cessation group appointment allowed a greater number of patients to be contacted and to reduce the waiting list, making the waiting time more adequate to the specificities of this consultation.