Cessation Opportunity due to Dramatic Covid-19 Threat
“Smoking cessation is likely to reduce the risk of developing COVID-19 as well as the likelihood of developing severe COVID-19 complications. For this reason, physicians should advise their patients to stop smoking immediately.”Eisenberg SL, Eisenberg MJ. Smoking Cessation During the COVID-19 Epidemic Nicotine Tob Res. 2020 May 4. pii: ntaa075. [Epub ahead of print]https://academic.oup.com/ntr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ntr/ntaa075/5828549
“Taken together, our findings suggest participants had varying reactions to COVID19, but their responses were mostly consistent across TCs [tobacco cigarettes] and ECs [E-cigarettes]. Though almost half reported no change, COVID-19 prompted about a quarter of respondents to reduce their TC and EC use, and more than a third to increase their motivation to quit. Greater perceived risk was associated with increased motivation to quit both products, and over 20% of respondents reported a quit attempt in order to reduce risk of harm from COVID-19… Our findings suggest that, for some, COVID-19 may stimulate interest in reducing or quitting tobacco and serve as a novel opportunity to promote cessation or harm reduction during this pandemic.”
Klemperer EM, West JC, Peasley-Miklus C, Villanti AC. Change in tobacco and electronic cigarette use and motivation to quit in response to COVID-19. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 28 April 2020. https://academic.oup.com/ntr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ntr/ntaa072/5826329
By Stephen Hamann
