Insights From the SmokeFree.gov Initiative Regarding the Use of Smoking Cessation Digital Platforms During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Trends Analysis Study
| Autor: | Sherine El-Toukhy |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Male
medicine.medical_specialty 020205 medical informatics Cross-sectional study medicine.medical_treatment Psychological intervention Health Informatics 02 engineering and technology lcsh:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics smoking lockdown 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Epidemiology Pandemic 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Humans Medicine 030212 general & internal medicine Risk factor Pandemics mHealth risk Original Paper SARS-CoV-2 business.industry lcsh:Public aspects of medicine Social distance social distancing COVID-19 lcsh:RA1-1270 cessation digital platform trend Cross-Sectional Studies Communicable Disease Control lcsh:R858-859.7 Smoking cessation Female Smoking Cessation business Social Media Demography |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Medical Internet Research Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol 23, Iss 3, p e24593 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 1438-8871 |
| Popis: | BackgroundSmoking is a plausible risk factor for COVID-19 progression and complications. Smoking cessation digital platforms transcend pandemic-driven social distancing and lockdown measures in terms of assisting smokers in their quit attempts.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine trends in the number of visitors, followers, and subscribers on smoking cessation digital platforms from January to April 2020 and to compare these traffic data to those observed during the same 4-month period in 2019. The examination of prepandemic and postpandemic trends in smoking cessation digital platform traffic can reveal whether interest in smoking cessation among smokers is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe obtained cross-sectional data from daily visitors on the SmokeFree website; the followers of six SmokeFree social media accounts; and subscribers to the SmokeFree SMS text messaging and mobile app interventions of the National Cancer Institute’s SmokeFree.gov initiative platforms, which are publicly available to US smokers. Average daily percentage changes (ADPCs) were used to measure trends for the entire 2020 and 2019 study periods, whereas daily percentage changes (DPCs) were used to measure trends for each time segment of change within each 4-month period. Data analysis was conducted in May and June 2020.ResultsThe number of new daily visitors on the SmokeFree website (between days 39 and 44: DPC=18.79%; 95% CI 5.16% to 34.19%) and subscribers to the adult-focused interventions QuitGuide (between days 11 and 62: DPC=1.11%; 95% CI 0.80% to 1.43%) and SmokeFreeTXT (between days 11 and 89: DPC=0.23%; 95% CI 0.004% to 0.47%) increased, but this was followed by declines in traffic. No comparable peaks were observed in 2019. The number of new daily subscribers to quitSTART (ie, the teen-focused intervention) trended downward in 2020 (ADPC=−1.02%; 95% CI −1.88% to −0.15%), whereas the overall trend in the number of subscribers in 2019 was insignificant (P=.07). The number of SmokeFree social media account followers steadily increased by ConclusionsPeaks in traffic on the SmokeFree website and adult-focused intervention platforms in 2020 could be attributed to an increased interest in smoking cessation among smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coordinated campaigns, especially those for adolescents, should emphasize the importance of smoking cessation as a preventive measure against SARS-CoV-2 infection and raise awareness of digital smoking cessation platforms to capitalize on smokers’ heightened interest during the pandemic. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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