Characterizing pandemic-related changes in smoking over time in a cohort of current and former smokers
Authors
Nagawa, Catherine S.Ito Fukunaga, Mayuko
Faro, Jamie M.
Liu, Feifan
Anderson, Ekaterina
Kamberi, Ariana
Orvek, Elizabeth Aaker
Davis, Maryann
Pbert, Lori
Cutrona, Sarah L.
Houston, Thomas K.
Sadasivam, Rajani S.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Prevention Research CenterGraduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
Biostatistics and Health Services Research
Document Type
Accepted ManuscriptPublication Date
2022-02-05Keywords
smokingadult
hispanics or latinos
stress
behavioral change
pandemics
risk perception
linear regression
smokers
covid-19
coronavirus
pandemic
Behavioral Medicine
Community Health
Community Health and Preventive Medicine
Preventive Medicine
Psychiatry and Psychology
Substance Abuse and Addiction
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
INTRODUCTION: We used a longitudinal cohort of U.S. adults who were current or former smokers to explore how three participant-reported factors - general stress, COVID-19 distress, and perceived risk of complications from COVID-19 related to smoking - were associated with changes in smoking status. METHODS: Smoking status was assessed at three time points. Timepoint 1 status was assessed at a prior study completion (2018-2020). Timepoint 2 (start of the pandemic) and Timepoint 3 (early phase of the pandemic) statuses were assessed using an additional survey in 2020. After classifying participants into eight groups per these time points, we compared the means of participant-reported factors and used a linear regression model to adjust for covariates. RESULTS: Participants (n=392) were mostly female (73.9%) and non-Hispanic White (70.1%). Between Timepoints 2 and 3, abstinence rates decreased by 11%, and 40% of participants reported a smoking status change. Among those reporting a change and the highest general stress levels, newly abstinent participants had higher perceived risk of complications from COVID-19 related to smoking than those who relapsed during pandemic (mean (standard deviation): 14.2 (3.3) vs. 12.6 (3.8)). Compared to participants who sustained smoking, those who sustained abstinence, on average, scored 1.94 less on the general stress scale (betaeta Coefficient (beta): -1.94, p-value < 0.01) and 1.37 less on the perceived risk of complications from COVID-19 related to smoking scale (beta: -1.37, p-value 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Decreased abstinence rates are concerning. Patterns of reported factors were as expected for individuals who sustained their smoking behavior but not for those who changed. IMPLICATIONS: We observed an increase in smoking rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. In exploring how combinations of general stress levels, COVID-19 distress levels, and perceived risk of complications from COVID-19 related to smoking were associated with changes in smoking, we observed expected patterns of these factors among individuals who sustained abstinence or smoking. Among individuals who changed smoking status and reported high stress levels, those who reported a higher perceived risk of complications from COVID-19 related to smoking abstained from smoking. In contrast, those who reported a lower perceived risk of complications from COVID-19 related to smoking, started smoking. An intersectional perspective may be needed to understand smokers' pandemic-related behavior changes.Source
Nagawa CS, Ito Fukunaga M, Faro JM, Liu F, Anderson E, Kamberi A, Orvek EA, Davis M, Pbert L, Cutrona SL, Houston TK, Sadasivam RS. Characterizing pandemic-related changes in smoking over time in a cohort of current and former smokers. Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Feb 5:ntac033. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac033. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35137213. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1093/ntr/ntac033Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/44576PubMed ID
35137213Related Resources
Rights
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Nicotine and Tobacco Research following peer review. The version of record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac033. Accepted manuscript posted after 12 months as allowed by the publisher's self-archiving policy at https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/self_archiving_policy_a.ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/ntr/ntac033