Smoking in Patients With Chronic Cardiovascular Disease During COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

ObjectivesThis cross-sectional study aims to investigate health-related behaviors including tobacco consumption among patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), during the first COVID-19-related lockdown.MethodsAfter 5 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown, 220 patients with chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) and 124 with congestive heart failure (CHF) answered a phone questionnaire.ResultsAmong these 344 patients, 43 (12.5%) were current smokers, and none had quit during the lockdown. When compared with non-smokers, smokers were 15 years younger, more often diabetic, more likely to live in an urban than a rural lockdown location, and more often in the CCS cohort (p = 0.011). Smokers described greater psychological impairment, but their rates of decrease in physical activity and of increase in screen time were similar to non-smokers. More than one-third (13/43) increased their tobacco consumption, which was mainly related to stress or boredom, but not driven by media messages on a protective effect of nicotine.ConclusionsDuring the first COVID-19 lockdown, we found a decrease in favorable lifestyle behaviors among patients with CVD. Strikingly, one-third of smokers with CCS or CHF increased their tobacco consumption. Given the major impact of persistent smoking in patients with CVD, this highlights the need for targeted prevention strategies, in particular during such periods.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in diabetes and dyslipidemia management in a Spanish region: a retrospective study of the Aragon population

“…The results clearly show a situation of underdiagnosis of T2D in the year 2020. This scenario of underdiagnosis has also been seen in other pathologies, such as cardiovascular disease ( 16 , 17 ) or buccal disorders ( 18 ), among others. In addition, in 2020 and 2021, subjects with T2D and dyslipidemia worsened their glucose and HbA1c levels and improved their lipid profiles, respectively, when compared to 2019.…”

Tobacco dependence and motivation to quit during confinement in Morocco

“…According to Yan et al 3 and Sidor and Rzymski 16 , more than 45% and 74.1% of smokers, respectively, saw their frequency of consumption increase during confinement. Similarly, Klemperer et al 17 and Chagué et al 18 reported that 30% of respondents increased their consumption. The study carried out by the French public health authorities 19 on smoking behavior and trends, found that around 25% of smokers said they had increased their tobacco consumption; the same figure was reported by Cransac-Miet et al 20 .…”

Cigarette Smoking in Response to COVID-19: Examining Co-Morbid Medical Conditions and Risk Perceptions

“…It is a concerning finding that individuals with co-morbid medical conditions were more likely to increase their smoking given their higher risk of more severe COVID-19 illness [ 49 ]. One potential explanation for this association is that those with medical conditions might have felt more stress and/or experienced greater mental health complications because of their medical status, which, in turn, promoted smoking [ 25 , 50 , 51 ]. Another possibility is that having a medical co-morbidity may be related to greater difficulty quitting smoking.…”

“…A growing body of literature suggests that the initial waves of the pandemic impacted tobacco use patterns in varied ways [ 17 ]. For instance, some adults endorsed increased tobacco use due to greater stress/negative effect [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Conversely, others reported decreased use because of reduced ability to afford or access tobacco products [ 26 , 27 ], lower social opportunities where use typically occurred [ 28 ] and/or health concerns [ 20 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ].…”