Do the subsequent waves of the pandemic scare Polish smokers the same?
 
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Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Poland
 
 
Publication date: 2021-12-10
 
 
Tob. Prev. Cessation 2021;7(Supplement):54
 
ABSTRACT
Background:
According to the data from research, published during epidemic, smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death due to COVID-19. Data suggested as well bigger interest of smokers in quitting smoking due to those information.

Objectives:
To analyze whether the sustained pandemic keeps a motivation in smokers to quit attempts.

Material and Methods:
Data were collected by counsellors from Polish Quitline. Callers answered questions on how the pandemic influenced their decision about quitting. Data were collected from April 2020 till April 2021 and have been divided into three sections reflecting the three waves of pandemic: Data were collected by counsellors from Polish Quitline. Callers answered questions on how the pandemic influenced their decision about quitting. Data were collected from April 2020 till April 2021 and have been divided into three sections reflecting the three waves of pandemic:
April 15 - May 30, 2020 - 453 questionnaires;
September 15, 2020 -January 17, 2021- 612 questionnaires;
19 March -14 April 2021 - 160 questionnaires.
The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2010.

Results:
During the first "wave" of the pandemic, over 48% of surveyed callers declared that their decision to quit smoking was influenced by the threat of coronavirus. Almost 6% admitted that they had not planned to quit smoking earlier, and 42.5% of the respondents said that the epidemic situation accelerated their decision.
During the second wave, we have noticed slight decrease in motivation driven by COVID. In that time the threat of Covid-19 prompted 42.5% of respondents to quit smoking. Just over 40.5% had already planned to quit smoking, and only less than 2% had made a decision because they were afraid of the coronavirus.
During the third wave we have observed that the epidemic threat had an impact on the decision to quit smoking in 30% of respondents. All of them declared that the epidemic only accelerated their decision.

Conclusions:
The results of the survey showing that at the beginning of the pandemic, smokers realized that smoking increased their risks. The willingness to quit, influenced by fear of SARS-CoV-2, was declared by people who had already planned quitting and smokers who had not considered quitting before. This positive effect decreasing with successive waves of the epidemic. The fear of Covid-19 did not affect unmotivated smokers and was less likely to accelerate the decision to quit in those who wish to quit. The beginning of the pandemic and the related threat was an important moment in which the tendency to change health behavior, including quitting smoking, increased. It seems that there has been a habituation effect over time. If we want to maintain a high motivation to quit smoking, we need to diversify and strengthen messages and methods of reaching smokers.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No Conflicts of Interest were reported.
eISSN:2459-3087
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