Smoking cessation services provided by the National Health Insurance Service

2020

Korean J Fam Med

Heated tobacco products (HTPs), a hybrid between conventional and electronic cigarettes, were first launched in South Korea in June 2017. Owing to advertisements stating that HTPs are odorless, tar-free, and less harmful to health, the sales of HTPs have grown quickly enough to account for about 10% of the total tobacco market in a year. HTP use by young, highly educated, and high-income groups had a significant impact on both the overall tobacco market over the past 3 years and the smoking and quitting behaviors of smokers. Based on national smoking rate statistics, tobacco sales trends, and the number of visitors to smoking cessation clinics, the following changes have been identified: (1) The decline in current smoking rates has slowed or rose in some groups. (2) The decline in total cigarette sales has slowed but rose again in the first quarter of 2020. (3) The number of visitors to smoking cessation clinics decreased just after the advent of HTPs. These results may be due to the insufficient support of tobacco regulation policies but also coincide chronologically with the appearance of HTPs in South Korea. It is necessary to investigate the usage rate of various tobacco products, including HTPs and e-cigarettes, to examine the health risks of novel tobacco products and provide accurate information to users and policymakers. Finally, tobacco companies are continuously developing new product concepts to escape the regulation of existing cigarettes; thus, comprehensive management measures for all nicotine-containing products are needed.

Section: Change Of Smoking Cessation Behavior 1 National Statistics mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Heated Tobacco Products on Smoking Cessation, Tobacco Use, and Tobacco Sales in South Korea

2020

Korean J Fam Med

“…First, the rate of decline in total tobacco sales has slowed since HTPs was introduced (−20131.5% in 2018 and −0.7% in 2019) [ 10 ]. Second, the number of visits to smoking cessation clinics decreased by 13% and the amount of government support allocated for the prevention of smoking medication dropped 27.5% in 2018 [ 11 , 12 ]. These temporal changes imply that the advent of HTPs has a significant impact on tobacco controls in South Korea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Heated Tobacco Product Users Less Likely to Quit than Cigarette Smokers? Findings from THINK (Tobacco and Health IN Korea) Study

Kim

et al. 2020

IJERPH

Since the advent of heated tobacco products in June 2017 in South Korea, the sale of heated tobacco products accounted for 10.5% of total tobacco sales in 2019. However, the decreasing trend in total tobacco sales is gradually weakening and the number of visitors using stop smoking services has also dropped. This study examines the association between the use of new tobacco products and related products and cessation behaviors. A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted from March 2019 to July 2019 for 2831 adult tobacco users. The difference in rates of quit attempts using the type of tobacco products and related products in the past year were noted (55.6% (any cigarette smoker), 46.7% (any e-cigarette user), and 39.6% (any heated tobacco product user)). About a 30% increase in quit attempts was observed for the triple users of either conventional cigarette or heated tobacco product than exclusive users. Exclusive heated tobacco product and e-cigarette users were approximately 40% and 20% less likely to quit the product they used than exclusive cigarette smokers, respectively. These findings can explain recent occurrences in South Korea, such as the reduction of visitors at smoking cessation clinics and the attenuation of the decline in tobacco sales.

“…Training for doctors was proposed for more effective smoking cessation treatments, and the Health Insurance Corporation conducted online education on smoking cessation for health care workers. 5) Amid this situation, the number of hospitals and clinics operating smoking cessation treatment has increased steadily. However, research on the long-and short-term success rates or the difference in the cessation rate before and after the implementation of the health insurance support project remains limited.…”

Section: The Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Sumentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-Term Success Rates of Smoking Cessation Support Programs and Factors Predicting Smoking Relapse: Using Data from a Smoking Cessation Clinic in a Hospital

Kim

Jeon

et al. 2019

Korean J Fam Med

See editorial commentary page on 351 Background: Although the number of medical institutions running a smoking cessation clinic is on the rise, there remains a paucity of research on the long-and short-term success rates of smoking cessation programs, as well as on smoking relapse rates, before and after project implementation. This study assessed the general characteristics of patients visiting the smoking cessation clinic, success rate of smoking cessation in the short term, and risks of relapse. Methods: Medical records from March 2015 to April 2017 were analyzed and telephone surveys were conducted with 151 smokers who visited a hospital smoking cessation clinic from March 2015 to April 2017. Results: Of the 139 smokers who were eligible for follow-up, 22 (15.8%) failed to quit smoking initially. The clinic's 6-month success rate of smoking cessation was 64.83%. Those with higher medication compliance had a lower risk of primary failure (odds ratio, 0.056; 95% confidence interval, 0.005-0.609), whereas those with higher age (hazard ratio [HR], 0.128; P=0.0252) and a greater number of visits to the clinic (HR, 0.274; P=0.0124) had a lower risk of relapsing. Conclusion: The risk of primary failure to quit was higher with low medication compliance, and that of relapsing was higher with lower age and fewer number of clinic visits. Various evaluation and analysis methods can be carried out in the future based on the accumulated data for maintenance of smoking cessation and relapse prevention.