Background and Objectives:
The association between smoking and progression of tuberculosis (TB) and poor treatment outcomes is firmly documented. The TB diagnosis is a teachable moment for quitting; however, many patients remain smokers. We aimed to identify the main motivations and barriers to quitting among TB patients in Armenia.

Methods:
A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted among adult TB patients two months after completion of treatment. Patients, who made at least one quitting attempt, reported one or more motivations or barriers to quitting that they experienced during the last quitting attempt. Motivations and obstacles between successful quitters and non-successful attempters were compared using descriptive analysis and chi-squared test.

Results:
Overall, 163 patients participated in the survey, and the majority were male (74.23%). More than half of the participants (58.28%; n=95) were smokers at the beginning of TB treatment and 60.0% (n=57) of smokers made at least one quitting attempt. At the end of the treatment, 42.10% (n=24) of the attempters were successful in quitting. The most commonly mentioned motivation to quit for successful quitters and non-successful attempters was health concerns for self and family (58.33% and 74.29%; p=0.198, respectively), followed by advice from a physician (29.17% and 28.57%; p=0.960, respectively). The most commonly mentioned barrier for successful quitters and non-successful attempters was cravings for a cigarette (33.33% and 51.43%; p=0.169, respectively). A significantly higher proportion of non-successful attempters experienced the loss of a way to handle stress compared with the successful quitters (28.57% vs 4.17%; p=0.018). Overall, successful quitters reported significantly fewer barriers compared with the non-successful attempters (54.17% vs 20.00%; p=0.006).

Conclusions:
Interventions should be integrated into TB care to raise patients’ apprehension of health concerns caused by smoking and physicians’ cognizance to provide assistance for smoking cessation. Evoking TB patients’ motivations and controlling for barriers during TB care may positively affect quitting.