Background: Smoking cessation reduces the risk of severe illnesses in the long run and contributes to improving health. This study evaluated the short-term and long-term effectiveness of workplace smoking cessation intervention implemented using the transtheoretical model.
Methods: Participants were assessed at baseline before the intervention and after 6 months and 4 years of follow-ups. Data on changes in participants' perception of smoking prohibition in the workplace, knowledge of the hazards of smoking, attitude towards quitting smoking, and behavior related to tobacco harm prevention were collected.
Results: Results showed the prevalence of smoking cessation was 31.5% (95% CI: 25.4-38.1%) after 6 months and 10.7% (95% CI: 6.9-15.6%) after 4 years. At the abovementioned time points, the prevalence of second-hand smoke exposure, and the proportion of people who demonstrated correct knowledge of smoke hazards initially decreased and then increased. The proportion of participants who had seen or received information about tobacco harm prevention provided in the workplace increased from 75.6% at baseline to 95.6% (increased by 20.0%) after 6 months and finally to 97.2% (increased by 21.6%) after 4 years (P < .001). However, the percentage of participants who hoped their workplace continued to provide smoking cessation services rose from 80.0% at baseline to 93.6% (increased by 13.6%) after 6 months and then fell to 78.0% (decreased by 2.0%) after 4 years (P < .001).
Conclusion: The short-term effectiveness of the transtheoretical model in promoting workplace smoking cessation is substantial, but in the long-term, effectiveness weakens.
Introduction: Youth perceptions of harmfulness and addictiveness of e-cigarettes may impact the age that they initiate e-cigarette use, but this has not been investigated previously.
Methods: Youth (12-17 years old) never e-cigarette users at their first wave of PATH participation (waves 1-3, 2013-2016) were included. PATH questions on absolute perceptions of e-cigarette harmfulness and addictiveness were used as exposures. Interval-censored Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the impact of perceptions of harmfulness, and perceptions of addictiveness on (i) the age of initiation of e-cigarette use and (ii) age of first reporting past 30-day e-cigarette use, while controlling for covariates.
Results: Youth who perceive e-cigarettes as having no/little harm had increased risk of initiating both ever e-cigarette use (AHR = 2.04; 95%CI = 1.74-2.40) and past 30-day e-cigarette use (AHR = 2.64; 95%CI = 2.07-3.37) at earlier ages compared to youth who perceive e-cigarettes as having a lot of harm. Youth who perceive the likelihood of becoming addicted to e-cigarettes to be very/somewhat unlikely had increased risk of an earlier age of both ever (AHR = 1.28; 95%CI = 1.07-1.52) and past 30-day (AHR = 1.36; 95%CI = 1.04-1.79) e-cigarette initiation compared to youth who perceived the likelihood of becoming addicted to e-cigarettes to be somewhat/very likely.
Conclusion: These results highlight the importance of communicating to youth the potential for health harms and addiction from e-cigarette use in prevention and intervention campaigns, as those with the lowest perceptions of harmfulness and addictiveness had the earliest ages of e-cigarette initiation.
Novel mRNA vaccines have been developed and were first distributed to high-risk individuals (including smokers) in the United States starting in December 2020 to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Over one-half of the U.S. adult population has received at least 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but many others have reported hesitation about becoming vaccinated. We examined COVID-19 vaccine uptake and hesitancy from a convenience sample of Pennsylvanian adult smokers in April 2021, approximately 3 months after tobacco users were eligible to receive vaccination in the state. Participants (n = 231) were 23.4% male, 90.5% white, and had a mean age of 48.1 (SD = 11.9) years. All participants were current tobacco users, with the majority reporting current cigarette smoking (90.9%) with an average of 16 (SD = 8.1) cigarettes smoked per day. Nearly 60% (n = 137) reported receiving at least 1 dose of the vaccine and of those who did not (n = 94), 84% (n = 79) said they were somewhat or very unlikely to get a vaccine. Those who were unvaccinated were more likely to not consume news about COVID-19 (chi-square P-value < .01) and less likely to believe government news sources as reliable information for COVID-19 (chi-square P-value < .01). Qualitative responses among those who were vaccine hesitant expressed concerns about the lack of research on the vaccine, distrust of the safety of the vaccine, and fears about side effects. Understanding vaccine hesitancy among tobacco users can help develop targeted communication strategies and directly address concerns to promote vaccination among this population who may be at an increased risk of severe complications from COVID-19.
Background: Studies show smoking and vaping behaviors increase risk of contracting and worse symptoms of COVID-19. This study examines whether past 30-day youth and young adult users of marijuana, e-cigarettes, and cigarettes self-reported changes in their use of these substances due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and cross-sectional associations between perceived stress, nicotine or marijuana dependence, and COVID-19-related changes in use.
Methods: Participants were 709 past 30-day self-reported substance users from the Texas Adolescent Tobacco and Marketing Surveillance study (TATAMS; mean age = 19; 58% female; 38% Hispanic, 35% white). Multiple logistic regression models assessed cross-sectional associations between perceived stress and dependence and increased, decreased, or sustained past 30-day use of marijuana, e-cigarettes, and cigarettes due to COVID-19 (e.g., "Has your marijuana use changed due to the COVID-19 outbreak?"). Covariates included age, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), dependence (exposure: stress), and stress (exposure: dependence).
Results: Most participants reported sustained (41%, 43%, 49%) or increased (37%, 34%, 25%) use of marijuana, e-cigarettes, and cigarettes due to COVID-19, respectively. Participants who reported symptoms of dependence were significantly more likely than their non-dependent peers to report increasing their marijuana (AOR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.15-2.39) and e-cigarette (AOR: 2.57; 95% CI: 1.38-4.77) use. Those who reported higher perceived stress were significantly more likely to report increasing their marijuana use (AOR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.01-2.42).
Conclusions: Most youth and young adults did not decrease their substance use amid a global, respiratory disease pandemic. Health messaging and interventions that address the health effects of smoking and vaping as well as factors like stress and dependence that may be barriers to decreasing use are vital in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background: The high rates of smoking in adults with serious mental illness (SMI) increases risk for COVID-19 infection. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a smoking cessation intervention that was adapted to be offered by phone during a Shelter in Place (SIP) period in San Francisco, California, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: During the SIP, we offered counseling sessions by phone to five participants. At the end of each session, we assessed readiness to quit, tobacco cessation or reduction, and inquired about the impact of the shelter in place on smoking habits and mental health. Grounded theory guided data collection and analysis.
Results: The categories that emerged around barriers and facilitators for smoking cessation were COVID-19-related stressors, having purpose, structure and feelings of connections, and the importance of quitting aides for smoking cessation.
Conclusion: Offering telephone based smoking cessation counseling to adults with SMI while they shelter in place may improve their readiness to quit.