Prevalence of use and real-world effectiveness of smoking cessation aids during the COVID-19 pandemic: a representative study of smokers in England.
Addiction
; 117(9): 2504-2514, 2022 Sep.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1973531
ABSTRACT
AIM:
To measure whether the prevalence of use and real-world effectiveness of different smoking cessation aids has changed in England since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.DESIGN:
Representative monthly cross-sectional surveys, January 2015-June 2021.SETTING:
England.PARTICIPANTS:
A total of 7300 adults (≥18 y) who had smoked within the previous 12 months and had made ≥1 quit attempt during that period. MEASUREMENTS The independent variable was the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic (pre-pandemic [January 2015-February 2020] vs pandemic [April 2020-June 2021]). We analysed (i) the association between the pandemic period and self-reported use (vs non-use) during the most recent quit attempt of prescription medication (nicotine replacement therapy [NRT]/varenicline/bupropion), NRT bought over-the-counter, e-cigarettes, traditional behavioural support and traditional remote support (telephone support/written self-help materials/websites) and (ii) the interaction between the pandemic period and use of these cessation aids on self-reported abstinence from quit date to survey. Covariates included age, sex, social grade, level of cigarette addiction and characteristics related to the quit attempt.FINDINGS:
After adjustment for secular trends, there was a significant increase from the pre-pandemic to pandemic period in the prevalence of use of traditional remote support by past-year smokers in a quit attempt (OR = 2.18; 95% CI, 1.42-3.33); specifically telephone support (OR = 7.16; 95% CI, 2.19-23.45) and websites (OR = 2.39; 95% CI, 1.41-4.08). There was also an increase in the prevalence of use of prescription medication (OR = 1.47; 95% CI, 1.08-2.00); specifically varenicline (OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.09-2.52). There were no significant changes in prevalence of use of other cessation aids after adjustment for secular trends. People who reported using prescription medication (OR = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.09-1.84) and e-cigarettes (OR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.62-2.16) had greater odds of reporting abstinence than people who did not. There were no significant interactions between the pandemic period and use of any cessation aid on abstinence, after adjustment for covariates and use of the other aids, although data were insensitive to distinguish no change from meaningful modest (OR = 1.34) effects (Bayes factors 0.72-1.98).CONCLUSIONS:
In England, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in use of remote support for smoking cessation and varenicline by smokers in a quit attempt up to June 2021. The data were inconclusive regarding an association between the pandemic and changes in the real-world effectiveness of popular smoking cessation aids.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Smoking Cessation
/
Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Addiction
Journal subject:
Substance-Related Disorders
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Add.15903
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