Changes in Smoking Behavior, Stress, and Sleep Duration among Israeli Hospital Workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Nicotine Tob Res
; 2022 Jan 13.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2238990
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Being on the COVID-19 frontline could negatively impact healthcare workers mental health. We examined smoking behavior changes and the association with changes in stress levels and sleeping patterns among hospital workers during the pandemic.METHODS:
An online survey was conducted among employees of a large tertiary medical center in Israel. Data collected included socio-demographic characteristics, smoking status, changes in smoking behavior (for smokers only), stress levels, and sleeping duration during the pandemic, perceptions of risk for COVID-19 infection and disease severity, presence of a chronic illness, COVID-19 exposure and infection status, and involvement in treating COVID-19 patients, Multi-nominal logistic regression modeling assessed the effects of covariates on smoking behavior change.RESULTS:
Overall, 920 healthcare workers participated. More than half (59%) reported an increase in stress and 28% reported changes in sleep duration. Thirty-five percent of current smokers (n=132), reported smoking more. Increased stress was associated with an increase in smoking (OR=3.45; 95% CI 1.2-9.4, p=0.016), and an increase in sleeping hours was significantly associated with a decrease in smoking (OR=6.62, 95% CI 1.2-32. p=0.02). Among smokers who reported perceived levels of stress to be the same or slightly higher than pre-pandemic, a strong inverse association was observed between sleep and smoking.CONCLUSIONS:
The mental health consequences of the pandemic, specifically for health workers, could lead to negative changes in smoking behaviors. Together with offering stress-management skills and coping strategies, mental health support should target smoking behaviors and sleep disturbances. IMPLICATIONS A high proportion of healthcare employees working in a large tertiary medical centre in Israel reported increased stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among smokers, increased stress levels were associated with increased smoking, suggesting that smoking may be a coping mechanism for COVID-19 related stress. Offering stress-management skills and coping strategies can mitigate the negative impact on health workers' smoking behaviour, and reduce stress-related increases in smoking behaviour.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ntr
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