{
  "abstract": "Introduction Smoking cessation interventions vary considerably. Following a hospital inpatient or outpatient attendance many patients will be referred to community-based stop smoking services. We report the level of engagement in those seen and followed up in a hospital-based service compared to community follow up alone.Methods Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has a hospital and community based ‘Help me Quit’ (HB-HMQ, CB-HMQ) smoking cessation service. HB-HMQ aims to offer an individualised smoking cessation programme for patients with chronic medical conditions. Between January and December 2024 all referrals from secondary care teams to HB-HMQ were either seen and followed up by HB-HMQ or referred directly to CB-HMQ without HM-HMQ involvement based on whether patients had underlying chronic medical conditions. We retrospectively reviewed the engagement and success levels in this patient cohort.Results 1,254 patients were referred to the HB-HMQ service from secondary care services. 246 patients were referred to CB-HMQ however 211 (86%) did not engage. Among those who set a quit date, 18 (53%) remained smoke-free at the 1-month follow-up.In comparison of the 1,008 chronic patients scheduled to be followed up by the HB-HMQ, 658 (65%) did not engage with the HB-HMQ. From those who set a quit date with HB-HMQ, 81 (83%) were smoke-free at 1 month.Discussion Engagement with smoking cessation services is challenging for patients with chronic medical conditions and it has previously been shown that hospitalised patients do better with a HB-based program. 1 In our study patients seen in secondary care services without chronic medical conditions had lower levels of engagement and 1-month success rates with direct referral to CB-HMQ. These results are comparable to previous studies1 and demonstrate the importance of continuity and a patient-centred, integrated approach in this patient group.Reference Keir L, et al. Can smokers switch from a hospital-based to a community-based stop smoking service? RCT Nicotine Res. 2009 Jun;11(6):756–64.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Cardiff and Vale UHB, Cardiff, UK"
      ],
      "name": "N Hutchinson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Cardiff and Vale UHB, Cardiff, UK"
      ],
      "name": "HW Poole"
    }
  ],
  "title": "M9 Do smokers requiring secondary care services engage with community-based smoking cessation support?",
  "uid": "1b9721ff-168c-5bd9-ad00-b2f54d924bc0"
}