Systematic review of changed smoking behaviour, smoking cessation and psychological states of smokers according to cigarette type during the COVID-19 pandemic

Changes in oral home care and smoking habits during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused disruption in the health behavior in many aspects of life. While hand hygiene was promoted as one of the precautionary measures to mitigate and contain COVID-19, oral health and smoking might have received less attention in the media campaigns. The aim of this study was to examine health behavioral changes in terms of oral home care habits, smoking, and perception of dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

An online survey was designed to assess oral home care, smoking habits, and attitude toward dental services of participants aged 18 years and older. The data were collected between September and November 2021. The strength of association between changes in oral home care habits, smoking, and attitude toward invasive/long dental procedures and each variable was measured by χ2 analysis. Estimates of relative risk were also calculated for all variables. Predictors of avoiding dental procedures were estimated by a binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 532 participants, based in the United Arab Emirates, took part in this online survey with a response rate of 88.7%. The age of the participants ranged between 18 and 67 with mean age of 34.9 ± 9.0 years. The majority of the participants have adopted changes in their routine oral home care habits, with 82.1% of them changing the toothbrush more frequently. Participants who changed their oral home care habits were more likely to have received sufficient information on the importance of maintaining oral health. Likewise, the changes in smoking habits were significantly associated with receiving information on the relationship between smoking and the severity of the COVID-19 (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings showed that positive behavior toward oral home care and smoking was noticed during the pandemic particularly when public receives sufficient and up-to-date information.

Association between the implementation of standardised tobacco packaging legislation and illicit tobacco and cross-border purchasing in England: a time-series analysis between 2012 and 2020

BACKGROUND

In May 2016, the UK announced standardising packaging legislation for tobacco products. There was a 12-month transition period with both branded and standardised packs on the market until May 2017. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the implementation of standardised packaging in England was associated with changes in illicit tobacco and cross-border purchasing.

METHODS

We used Smoking Toolkit Study data covering the time period from 2012 to 2020. We ran time-series analysis using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Exogenous Variable models to investigate the monthly changes in illicit tobacco and cross-border purchasing in England. The model was adjusted for other tobacco control policies implemented during the relevant time period and tobacco pricing. We used May 2017 as an implementation point and run sensitivity analysis using July 2016 and February 2017 as alternative implementation points given phased introduction of the policy.

RESULTS

The average prevalence of illicit tobacco and cross-border purchasing in the past 6 months was 14.4%. The implementation of standardised tobacco packaging legislation was associated with a monthly decline in illicit tobacco and cross-border purchases after May 2017 by 0.16% per month (beta=-0.158, 95% CI -0.270 to -0.046). The results were robust to considering different implementation points for the policy (July 2016: beta=-0.109, 95% CI -0.213 to -0.005; February 2017: beta=-0.141, 95% CI -0.245 to -0.036).

CONCLUSIONS

In contrast to the tobacco industry's argument that the legislation would lead to an increase in the illicit tobacco and cross-border market, this study demonstrates that the implementation of the policy is associated with a decline in illicit tobacco and cross-border purchases in England.

Experiences with smoking habits and the need for cessation among habitual smokers in Japan: a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews

BACKGROUND

Although more than half of the habitual smokers recognize that they want to quit smoking cigarettes, approximately half have failed to quit and experienced distress relapse; therefore, there is an urgent need to focus on these populations. When chronic behavior occurs, it is necessary to view the behavior in the context of the entire life of the person involved, considering the history of the person. In this study, we aimed to describe experiences with smoking from the onset to the present and the need for smoking cessation among habitual smokers in Japan and to explore efforts to address them.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews that lasted for 55-90 min were conducted with the cooperation of 16 habitual smokers who smoked cigarettes daily. The content of the interviews included demographic characteristics, experiences with smoking from the onset to the present, whether they have attempted to quit and related experiences, and their thoughts on smoking. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed qualitatively. The Medical Research Ethics Review Committee of Jikei University approved this study (approval number: 33-384(11008)).

RESULTS

The participants were aged 26-59 years (mean ± SD: 40.8 ± 8.9 years) and included 10 men and 6 women. The participants started smoking between age 13 and 24 years. The highest number of cigarettes smoked in the participants' lives ranged from 10 to 80 daily, and 12 participants had attempted to quit smoking so far without success. Regarding experiences with smoking from the onset to the present, four themes of "expand one's world," "unconscious attachment," "attempts and failures," and "losing oneself" were extracted. Regarding the need for smoking cessation, four themes of "empowerment from experts," "peer interaction," "social commitment," and "recovery of confidence" were extracted.

CONCLUSION

To support smoking cessation from the perspective of habitual smokers, in addition to improvements through the existing approaches, it is important to recover their confidence using ongoing activities in peer groups according to the target background and support from experts incorporating visual assessments of lung function, along with multiple short-term goals. It is also necessary to raise awareness in communities through activities.

Public support for car smoking bans in Poland: a 2022 national cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of self-reported secondhand smoke exposure in cars among adults in Poland and to characterise public attitudes towards the implementation of the ban on smoking in cars with children.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey was carried out between 4 March 2022 and 7 March 2022 on a national sample of 1090 adult Polish residents. The questionnaire included 12 closed questions on smoking behaviours, secondhand smoke exposure as well as attitudes towards different smoke-free laws.

PARTICIPANTS

Data were obtained from 1090 individuals, aged 18-84 years, 52.6% were females.

RESULTS

Almost every fifth respondent (17.7%) declared secondhand smoke exposure in cars in the past 30 days (31.8% of smokers and 12.0% of non-smokers; p<0.001). Lack of the implementation of smoke-free home rules (aOR 2.92, 95% CI 1.99 to 4.29; p<0.001), age 18-29 years (aOR 2.06; 95% CI 1.16 to 3.67; p=0.01), current smoking (aOR 1.99, 95% CI 1.37 to 2.90; p<0.001) as well as bad financial situation (aOR 1.60, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.48; p=0.04) were significantly associated with the higher risk of secondhand smoke exposure in cars. Out of all respondents, 84.2% supported the implementation of the ban on smoking in cars with children. Out of 12 different sociodemographic factors, only the female gender (aOR 1.94, 95% CI 1.37 to 2.74) and being non-smokers (aOR 1.70. 95% CI 1.20 to 2.41; p=0.003) were significantly associated with the higher odds of supporting the implementation of the ban on smoking in cars with children.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed high public support for the implementation of the ban on smoking in cars with children. Social support for smoke-free environments in Poland should be used by public health specialists and policy-makers to strengthen the national tobacco control act.