Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020
Changes in the prevalence of psychological distress among smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic in England may exacerbate existing health inequalities. This study examined the prevalence of psychological distress among smokers following the onset of the pandemic compared with previous years. Cross-se...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Preventive Medicine Reports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521001108 |
| _version_ | 1819153437208608768 |
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| author | Loren Kock Jamie Brown Lion Shahab Graham Moore Marie Horton Leonie Brose |
| author_facet | Loren Kock Jamie Brown Lion Shahab Graham Moore Marie Horton Leonie Brose |
| author_sort | Loren Kock |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Changes in the prevalence of psychological distress among smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic in England may exacerbate existing health inequalities. This study examined the prevalence of psychological distress among smokers following the onset of the pandemic compared with previous years. Cross-sectional data came from a representative survey of smokers (18+) in England (n = 2,927) between April–July in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Logistic regressions estimated the associations between past-month distress across 2016/2017 and 2020, and age. Weighted proportions, chi-squared statistics and stratified logistic regression models were used to compare the distributions of moderate and severe distress, respectively, within socio-demographic and smoking characteristics in 2016/2017 and 2020. Between the combined April–July 2016 and 2017 sample and April–July 2020 the prevalence of moderate and severe distress among past-year smokers increased (2016/2017: moderate 20.66%, 19.02–22.43; severe 8.23%, 7.16–9.47; 2020: moderate 28.79%, 95%CI 26.11–31.60; OR = 2.08, 95%CI 1.34–3.25; severe 11.04%, 9.30–13.12; OR = 2.16, 1.13–4.07). While there was no overall evidence of an interaction between time period and age, young (16–24 years) and middle-age groups (45–54 years) may have experienced greater increases in moderate distress and older age groups (65+ years) increases in severe distress. There were increases of moderate distress among more disadvantaged social grades and both moderate and severe distress among women and those with low cigarette addiction. Between April–July 2016/2017 and April–July 2020 in England there were increases in both moderate and severe distress among smokers. The distribution of distress among smokers differed between 2016/2017 and 2020 and represents a widening of inequalities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T15:05:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bc3e8cfab7a54b0e89ea9ad98cb60722 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2211-3355 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T15:05:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Preventive Medicine Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-bc3e8cfab7a54b0e89ea9ad98cb607222022-12-21T18:22:01ZengElsevierPreventive Medicine Reports2211-33552021-09-0123101420Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020Loren Kock0Jamie Brown1Lion Shahab2Graham Moore3Marie Horton4Leonie Brose5Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, WC1E 7HB, United Kingdom; SPECTRUM Research Consortium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Corresponding author at: Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, WC1E 7HB, United Kingdom.Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, WC1E 7HB, United Kingdom; SPECTRUM Research Consortium, Edinburgh, United KingdomDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, WC1E 7HB, United Kingdom; SPECTRUM Research Consortium, Edinburgh, United KingdomSPECTRUM Research Consortium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; DECIPHer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United KingdomSPECTRUM Research Consortium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Population Health Analysis Team, Public Health England, United KingdomSPECTRUM Research Consortium, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, United KingdomChanges in the prevalence of psychological distress among smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic in England may exacerbate existing health inequalities. This study examined the prevalence of psychological distress among smokers following the onset of the pandemic compared with previous years. Cross-sectional data came from a representative survey of smokers (18+) in England (n = 2,927) between April–July in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Logistic regressions estimated the associations between past-month distress across 2016/2017 and 2020, and age. Weighted proportions, chi-squared statistics and stratified logistic regression models were used to compare the distributions of moderate and severe distress, respectively, within socio-demographic and smoking characteristics in 2016/2017 and 2020. Between the combined April–July 2016 and 2017 sample and April–July 2020 the prevalence of moderate and severe distress among past-year smokers increased (2016/2017: moderate 20.66%, 19.02–22.43; severe 8.23%, 7.16–9.47; 2020: moderate 28.79%, 95%CI 26.11–31.60; OR = 2.08, 95%CI 1.34–3.25; severe 11.04%, 9.30–13.12; OR = 2.16, 1.13–4.07). While there was no overall evidence of an interaction between time period and age, young (16–24 years) and middle-age groups (45–54 years) may have experienced greater increases in moderate distress and older age groups (65+ years) increases in severe distress. There were increases of moderate distress among more disadvantaged social grades and both moderate and severe distress among women and those with low cigarette addiction. Between April–July 2016/2017 and April–July 2020 in England there were increases in both moderate and severe distress among smokers. The distribution of distress among smokers differed between 2016/2017 and 2020 and represents a widening of inequalities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521001108SmokingMental healthCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Loren Kock Jamie Brown Lion Shahab Graham Moore Marie Horton Leonie Brose Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020 Preventive Medicine Reports Smoking Mental health COVID-19 |
| title | Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020 |
| title_full | Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020 |
| title_fullStr | Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020 |
| title_short | Smoking, distress and COVID-19 in England: Cross-sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020 |
| title_sort | smoking distress and covid 19 in england cross sectional population surveys from 2016 to 2020 |
| topic | Smoking Mental health COVID-19 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521001108 |
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