• Rachel Denlinger-Apte, Cynthia K Suerken, RossJennifer CornacchioneJCDepartment of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. Electronic address: jcornacc@wakehealth.edu., Beth A Reboussin, John Spangler, Kimberly G Wagoner, and Erin L Sutfin.
• Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. Electronic address: rdenling@wakehealth.edu.
• Prev Med. 2022 Mar 1; 156: 106992106992.

AbstractIn Spring 2020, most US states and territories implemented stay-at-home orders to slow transmission of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2, the cause of COVID-19. Little is known about the impact of stay-at-home orders on tobacco and nicotine use including among young adults. The current study examined participants (N = 1727) completing three recent survey waves from a longitudinal cohort of young adults recruited in 2010 from North Carolina and Virginia, USA: Wave 13 (Spring 2019), Wave 14 (Fall 2019), and Wave 15 (Spring 2020) to assess changes in cigarette and e-cigarette use. We conducted logistic regression analyses to compare the odds that participants reported smoking or vaping in Wave 14 relative to Wave 13 to establish if there was a trend of use pre-pandemic. Then, we conducted logistic regression analyses to compare the odds that participants reported smoking or vaping in Wave 15 relative to Wave 14 to determine the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. When comparing the odds of reporting tobacco use at Wave 14 to Wave 13, no differences emerged (p > 0.05). However, when comparing tobacco use at Wave 15 to Wave 14, participants had 40% lower odds of reporting past 30-day cigarette use (p = 0.02) and 50% lower odds of reporting past 30-day e-cigarette use (p < 0.01). The current study provides initial evidence that young adults may have reduced their tobacco and nicotine use during the stay-at-home orders. However, more work is needed to determine the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tobacco use and cessation in this population.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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