Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
-
There is a need to improve utilization of cessation assistance in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and tobacco cessation research has been identified as priority in LMICs. This study evaluates the relationship between health care provider intervention and cessation assistance utilization in LMICs. ⋯ This first study of association between health care provider intervention and the utilization of cessation assistance in LMICs reports that there was a missed opportunity to provide quit advice to about 60% of smokers who visited a health care provider in the past year. The odds of utilization of counseling/cessation clinic, WHO-recommended medications, and quitline were significantly increased in participants who were advised to quit smoking. The results suggest that effective integration and implementation of advice to quit in tobacco control programs and the national health care systems may increase the use of cessation assistance to quit smoking.
-
Controlled Clinical Trial
Brain Responses to Cigarette-Related and Emotional Images in Smokers During Smoking Cessation: No Effect of Varenicline or Bupropion on the Late Positive Potential.
Varenicline and bupropion are two effective smoking cessation pharmacotherapies. Researchers have hypothesized that they might be effective, in part, because they reduce cue reactivity and cue-induced cravings. Here, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to directly measure brain responses to cigarette-related and other motivationally relevant images during a pharmacologically aided quit attempt. ⋯ Bupropion and varenicline do not alter electrophysiological responses, as measured by the LPP, to cigarette-related and emotional images. These findings help explain why cigarette-related cues can trigger relapse when smoking cessation medication treatments end.
-
Comparative Study
Comparative Effectiveness of Varenicline and Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smoking Cessation in Older and Younger Smokers: A Prospective Cohort in Taiwan.
The effectiveness of varenicline compared with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in achieving smoking cessation in older smokers has not been investigated. This study prospectively compared the effectiveness of varenicline relative to NRT in smokers aged 25-54 years and separately in smokers aged 55 years or older. ⋯ In this prospective investigation of a national cohort, older smokers (aged ≥55 years) who received varenicline did not have a greater point-prevalence abstinence after 6 months compared with those who used NRT patch or gum. Younger smokers (aged 25-54 years) who received varenicline had a greater likelihood of abstinence than NRT users. Sex and nicotine dependence did not modify the age-specific effectiveness of varenicline relative to NRT patch or gum. Age-appropriate approaches for effective tobacco control are needed.
-
Comparative Study
E-cigarettes: Comparing the Possible Risks of Increasing Smoking Initiation with the Potential Benefits of Increasing Smoking Cessation.
The public health community is divided regarding electronic cigarettes. Skeptics emphasize potential vaping-induced increases in smoking among children and possible health hazards for adults. Enthusiasts consider e-cigarettes much less dangerous than smoking and believe they increase adult smoking cessation. We compare potential health benefits and costs to put these two perspectives in context. ⋯ Our analysis strongly suggests that the upside health benefit associated with e-cigarettes, in terms of their potential to increase adult smoking cessation, exceeds their downside risk to health as a result of their possibly increasing the number of youthful smoking initiators. Public messaging and policy should continue to strive to reduce young people's exposure to all nicotine and tobacco products. But, they should not do so at the expense of limiting such products' potential to help adult smokers to quit.
-
The sustained anti-tobacco campaign initiated in response to the mounting evidence against tobacco smoking has driven tobacco companies and smokers to look for alternative choices, such as smokeless tobacco (SLT) products. If this strategy advances, it could undermine several gains made by the campaign over the years. Our objective was to examine the trends in the prevalence of different tobacco types in three countries (Bangladesh, India, and Nepal) of South-East Asia. ⋯ It has been documented that the smoking prevalence has been declining in most countries of the South-East Asia region where effective anti-tobacco laws have been implemented. But, due to a number of factors, the prevalence of smokeless tobacco has been increasing steadily, making the entire anti-tobacco movement less effective in terms of reducing the tobacco-attributable disease burden. In this context, this study has provided a detailed comparative analysis of the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use and smoking in three countries of the SEAR where such data were available. It can be clearly seen that the preference for smoking has shifted towards the smokeless tobacco in all the three study countries. This study recommends that tobacco control interventions should be aligned with the changing dynamics of the tobacco epidemic, and the need of the hour is placing restrictions of smokeless tobacco use so as to drive forward the gains of the anti-tobacco movement.