IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i20p10894-d658253.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High Perceived Susceptibility to and Severity of COVID-19 in Smokers Are Associated with Quitting-Related Behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Yajie Li

    (School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Tzu Tsun Luk

    (School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Yongda Wu

    (School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Derek Yee Tak Cheung

    (School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • William Ho Cheung Li

    (Nethersole School of Nursing, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Henry Sau Chai Tong

    (Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, Hong Kong, China)

  • Vienna Wai Yin Lai

    (Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, Hong Kong, China)

  • Sai Yin Ho

    (School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Tai Hing Lam

    (School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Man Ping Wang

    (School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

A growing body of evidence shows smoking is a risk factor for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We examined the associations of quitting-related behaviors with perceived susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19 in smokers. We conducted a telephone survey of 659 community-based adult smokers (81.7% male) in Hong Kong, where there was no lockdown. Exposure variables were perceptions that smoking can increase the risk of contracting COVID-19 (perceived susceptibility) and its severity if infected (perceived severity). Outcome variables were quit attempts, smoking reduction since the outbreak of the pandemic, and intention to quit within 30 days. Covariates included sex, age, education, heaviness of smoking, psychological distress, and perceived danger of COVID-19. High perceived susceptibility and severity were reported by 23.9% and 41.7% of participants, respectively. High perceived susceptibility was associated with quit attempts (prevalence ratio (PR) 2.22, 95% CI 1.41–3.49), smoking reduction (PR 1.75, 95% CI 1.21–2.51), and intention to quit (PR 2.31, 95% CI 1.40–3.84). Perceived severity of COVID-19 was associated with quit attempts (PR 1.64, 95% CI 1.01–2.67) but not with smoking reduction or intention to quit. To conclude, the perceived susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19 in smokers were associated with quitting-related behaviors in current smokers, which may have important implications for smoking cessation amid the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Yajie Li & Tzu Tsun Luk & Yongda Wu & Derek Yee Tak Cheung & William Ho Cheung Li & Henry Sau Chai Tong & Vienna Wai Yin Lai & Sai Yin Ho & Tai Hing Lam & Man Ping Wang, 2021. "High Perceived Susceptibility to and Severity of COVID-19 in Smokers Are Associated with Quitting-Related Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-9, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10894-:d:658253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10894/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10894/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erin A. Vogel & Lisa Henriksen & Nina C. Schleicher & Judith J. Prochaska, 2021. "Perceived Susceptibility to and Seriousness of COVID-19: Associations of Risk Perceptions with Changes in Smoking Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Yuying Sun & Tai Hing Lam & Yee Tak Derek Cheung & Man Ping Wang & Yongda Wu & Jianjiu Chen & Xiaoyu Zhang & William H. C. Li & Sai Yin Ho, 2021. "First Report on Smoking and Infection Control Behaviours at Outdoor Hotspots during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Unobtrusive Observational Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-10, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hui Liu & Guichuan Lai & Guiqian Shi & Xiaoni Zhong, 2022. "The Influencing Factors of HIV-Preventive Behavior Based on Health Belief Model among HIV-Negative MSMs in Western China: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-11, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hui Liu & Guichuan Lai & Guiqian Shi & Xiaoni Zhong, 2022. "The Influencing Factors of HIV-Preventive Behavior Based on Health Belief Model among HIV-Negative MSMs in Western China: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-11, August.
    2. Brandon W. Reed & Arthur L. Brody & Andre Y. Sanavi & Neal Doran, 2023. "Associations between Tobacco Use, Surges, and Vaccination Status over Time in the COVID-19 Era," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-8, January.
    3. Hui Zhang & Min Zhuang & Yihan Cao & Jingxian Pan & Xiaowan Zhang & Jie Zhang & Honglei Zhang, 2021. "Social Distancing in Tourism Destination Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Moderated Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Lisa M. Fucito & Krysten W. Bold & Sydney Cannon & Alison Serrantino & Rebecca Marrero & Stephanie S. O’Malley, 2022. "Cigarette Smoking in Response to COVID-19: Examining Co-Morbid Medical Conditions and Risk Perceptions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Xiaoyu Wang & Zaifei Ma & Chunan Wang, 2022. "A Longitudinal Study on the Addictive Behaviors of General Population before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-12, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10894-:d:658253. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.