The Potential Effectiveness of COVID-Related Smoking Cessation Messages in Three Countries

Abstract

Introduction Health authorities are advising smokers to quit to reduce their COVID-related risk. The types of messages that may be effective in alerting smokers to this risk and encouraging a quit attempt are unknown. The aim of this study was to test a series of messages to identify potentially effective communication approaches. Methods An online survey was completed by 1509 smokers across three countries (Australia: n = 604; New Zealand: n = 304; United Kingdom: n = 601) in April–May 2020. Respondents were randomly assigned to view just one of four quit messages, two of which explicitly referred to the coronavirus, one referred to risk of chest infection, and one encouraged cessation for financial reasons. Outcome variables included quit intentions, further information seeking, message perceptions, and health and financial concerns. Results All four messages were associated with significant differences in the proportions of respondents intending to quit within the following 2 wk (increase range: 11%–34%) and with substantial proportions of respondents electing to access additional information (range: 37%–50%). The differences in intentions were significantly larger for the two health-related messages that specifically mentioned the coronavirus. All messages were perceived favorably in terms of acceptability, believability, effectiveness, and personal relevance. Negligible differences in health and financial concerns were observed. Conclusions Smokers in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom appear likely to be receptive to messages about their COVID-related risk. Such messages have the potential to increase quit intentions and prompt information-seeking behaviors. Implications The COVID-19 pandemic represents an opportunity to encourage smokers to quit to reduce both their COVID-related risks and their risks of a broad range of noncommunicable diseases.

Examining reactions to smoking and COVID-19 risk messages: An experimental study with people who smoke

“…Exposure to the combined risk messages led to higher intentions to quit smoking in the next month (vs. COVID-19 risk) and reduce smoking in the next 6 months (vs. smoking risk and non-risk control). These results confirm and add to research where people who smoke perceived combined risk messages as more effective at discouraging smoking than generic messages ( Grummon et al, 2020 ; Pettigrew et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Finally, each risk condition resulted in greater negative emotions and lesser positive emotions than the control condition. These results add evidence to earlier work testing smoking and COVID-19 health messages ( Grummon et al, 2020 ; Pettigrew et al, 2021 ) and inform public health communication and policy during the COVID-19 crisis, especially regarding novel strategies for motivating smoking cessation.…”

“…However, the study primarily focused on perceived message effectiveness and did not measure outcomes related to quitting smoking or protecting against COVID-19. Pettigrew et al, (2021) tested four messages for smoking cessation (two were COVID-focused, one was on respiratory health, and one was financially focused) and found that exposure to COVID messages significantly increased intentions to quit smoking, compared to the other messages. This study was conducted with participants from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and thus testing still needs to be done in the U.S.…”

Smokers’ cognitive and behavioural reactions during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the 2020 ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey

“…It is also possible that due to the mixed evidence of whether it is riskier to smoke if COVID-19 was contracted [ 7 , 14 , 53 , 54 ], coupled with suggestive evidence that that nicotine could in fact be a protective factor from COVID-19 [ 54 – 56 ], smokers may be confused about the role and potential impacts of nicotine and smoking on COVID-19. Some evidence has shown that messages on COVID-related risks and smoking may be effective in encouraging a quit attempt [ 57 , 58 ], therefore stronger and accurate public health messaging should be disseminated.…”

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected smokers?

“…Účinnější bylo znění A, tedy text apelující na úlevu zdravotníků (5). Taková aktivita v ČR chybí, existuje tu jen soukromá iniciativa www.darujluzko.cz založená na prakticky okamžitém snížení rizika akutní kardiovaskulární příhody po poslední cigaretě.…”