Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2020
Cluster analysis of urinary tobacco biomarkers among U.S. adults: Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) biomarker study (2013-2014).
Tobacco use delivers nicotine, tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are metabolized and excreted in urine offering useful biomarkers of exposure. Previous studies compared individual toxicants across tobacco users. Based on a group of biomarkers, cluster analysis was used to define tobacco toxicant exposure profiles. ⋯ Clusters heavily populated by dual and poly tobacco users were the same as those heavily populated by cigarette smokers. Ten exposure profiles (clusters) were determined and linked to tobacco use behavior. Findings could inform future research and policy initiatives.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2020
Biopsychosocial mechanisms associated with tobacco use in smokers with and without serious mental illness.
Smokers with serious mental illness (SMI) are less responsive to cessation treatments than those without SMI. In this study, we compared smokers with and without SMI on validated measures of biological and psychosocial factors associated with tobacco use. Smokers with (n = 58) and without SMI (n = 83) who were enrolled in parallel clinical trials were compared on measures of carbon monoxide (CO) exposure, nicotine exposure, tobacco-specific nitrosamine exposure, craving, smoking motives, affect, perceived stress, environmental exposure to smoke/smokers, respiratory symptoms, tobacco-related health risk perceptions, and whether they had received recent advice to quit smoking from a health care provider. ⋯ Affect, stress, and exposure to smoke/smokers did not differ across samples. Our findings advance the understanding of the elevated smoking rates of people with SMI by comparing smokers with and without SMI on validated biopsychosocial measures. There is a need for interventions that reduce craving, reduce smoking motives, and increase risk awareness among smokers with SMI.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialEnhancing employer coverage of smoking cessation treatment: A randomized trial of the partners in helping you quit program.
The workplace is a key channel for delivering tobacco cessation treatment to a population. Employers can provide workplace-based programs and/or financial incentives such as health insurance benefits that cover the cost of treatment accessed outside the workplace. Little is known about the effect of combining these strategies. ⋯ More PiHQ than QL participants made a quit attempt by 3 months (82 vs. 61%, p < .02) and achieved the primary outcome, verified past 7-day cigarette abstinence at 6 months (31 vs. 12%, odds ratio 3.34, 95% CI, 1.05-10.60). Among participants using behavioral support, PiHQ participants completed more scheduled calls and rated counseling helpfulness higher than did QL participants. These results suggest that employers can enhance the impact of providing comprehensive health insurance coverage of smoking cessation medication by adding a phone-based worksite cessation program.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2020
E-cigarettes: How can they help smokers quit without addicting a new generation?
The dramatic increase in youth use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS; e.g., e-cigarettes) in the United States has focused regulatory efforts to address this concern while still encouraging smokers to switch completely to lower risk products or quit all tobacco product use. Increases in the minimum age for purchase of all tobacco products and changes in enforcement policy for ENDS have been recently enacted in an effort to address the youth vaping epidemic. ⋯ Some, such as disallowing flavors other than tobacco or menthol or limiting nicotine delivery, may help reduce youth use but could also inhibit smokers from quitting smoking. Other approaches, including reducing the high-tech appearance and discreteness of ENDS, discontinuing use of coupons and two-for-one type price incentives for ENDS, limiting retail sales of these products to adult-only facilities, and incorporating technological innovations such as biometrics or geofencing into ENDS, may help manufacturers demonstrate that marketing of their products would help reduce youth use of ENDS and lessen the epidemic, while still assuring adult smokers have access to products that encourage discontinuing combusted product use.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2020
Decreasing Smoking During Pregnancy: Potential Economic Benefit of Reducing Sudden Unexpected Infant Death.
Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) remains the leading cause of death among U. S. infants age 1-12 months. Extensive epidemiological evidence documents maternal prenatal cigarette smoking as a major risk factor for SUID, but leaves unclear whether quitting reduces risk. ⋯ While the U. S. obtained aggregate annual economic benefits of $0.58 (95% CI, 0.35-0.82) billion from pregnant women who quit or reduced smoking, it missed an additional $1.16 (95%CI 0.71-1.60) billion from the women who continued smoking. Delineating the health and economic impacts of decreasing smoking during pregnancy using large epidemiological studies like Anderson et al. is critically important for conducting meaningful economic analyses of the benefits-costs of developing more effective interventions for decreasing smoking during pregnancy.