In Qatar, smoking cigarettes is one of the leading preventable causes of illness and death. Testing the impact of a structured program led by qualified pharmacists on smoking cessation rates in Qatar was the aim of the study. Additionally, eight ambulatory pharmacies in Qatar participated in a prospective randomized controlled trial. Participants who smoked one or more cigarettes a day for seven days, were motivated to stop, could speak Arabic or English, and attended the program sessions were eligible. Participants had to be at least eighteen years old. Participants in the intervention group met with the pharmacists four times, separated by two to four weeks. Brief, unstructured coaching on quitting smoking was given to participants in the control group. Self-reported sustained abstinence at 12 months was the main study outcome. The intent-to-treat principle and data from just individuals who answered were used in the analysis. To evaluate the factors that predicted smoking at 12 months, a multinomial logistic regression model was built.

314 smokers in all were randomly assigned to one of two groups: control (n = 147) or intervention (n = 167).

At 12 months, the intervention group had higher smoking cessation rates, although this difference was not statistically significant (23.9% vs. 16.9%, p = 0.257). Comparable outcomes were noted, although the intent to treat analysis showed less variation (12.6% vs. 9.5%, p = 0.391). However, the intervention group's daily cigarette consumption was considerably lower than that of the control group (p = 0.041 and p = 0.018, respectively) among those who relapsed (by 4.7 and 5.6 cigarettes at 3 and 6 months, respectively). The intervention group smoked three cigarettes more at 12 months, although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.246). The main factors that predicted smoking versus quitting at 12 months were years of smoking and daily cigarette use (p = 0.005 and p = 0.027, respectively). The groups' rates of quitting smoking at 12 months did not differ statistically significantly. When compared to normal treatment, the smoking cessation program did, however, result in greater (although non-significant) smoking cessation rates. To find the elements that could enhance abstinence, more research should be done.