Use of pharmacotherapy while attempting cessation among Italian smokers

The objective of this study was to examine the use of pharmacotherapy while attempting smoking cessation among current smokers and also the prevalence of use among former smokers in Italy. The data for this study were collected as part of six Italian tobacco surveys conducted between the years 2002 and 2007 on a total of 19 459 Italians aged 15 years and older. These surveys were designed to be representative of the Italian population with respect to age and sex. The current smoker analysis involved estimating the prevalence and the 95% confidence interval of use of pharmacotherapy among smokers in any previous quit attempt. Age-adjusted and sex-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were also estimated. The former smoker analysis involved estimating the prevalence of use of pharmacotherapy to assist in cessation for smokers who quit between 1995 and 2006 in an attempt to determine if it was being used with increasing frequency over time. Among 1854 smokers who had made at least one quit attempt in the past, 9.4% reported using pharmacotherapy during at least one attempt. Use of pharmacotherapy was related to smoking intensity, education level, and age. Among former smokers, pharmacotherapy use for cessation ranged between 0 and 4.9%. Methods to increase the use of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation need to be enhanced in Italy because these products are not reaching a large majority of smokers. One possible solution is to add pharmacotherapy to the list of medications covered by the National Health Service.