Brief interventions for smoking and alcohol associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: a population survey in England

Loren Kock; Lion Shahab; Claire Garnett; Melissa Oldham; Harry Tattan-Birch; Colin Angus; Leonie Brose; Jamie Brown

doi:10.1186/s12889-023-17559-7

Brief interventions for smoking and alcohol associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: a population survey in England

Loren Kock^*
, Lion Shahab
, Claire Garnett
, Melissa Oldham
, Harry Tattan-Birch
, Colin Angus
, Leonie Brose
, Jamie Brown

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 health care delivery underwent considerable changes. It is unclear how this may have affected the delivery of Brief Interventions (BIs) for smoking and alcohol. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol in primary care in England and whether certain priority groups (e.g., less advantaged socioeconomic positions, or a history of a mental health condition) were differentially affected. Methods: We used nationally representative data from a monthly cross-sectional survey in England between 03/2014 and 06/2022. Monthly trends in the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol were examined using generalised additive models among adults who smoked in the past-year (weighted N = 31,390) and those using alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels (AUDIT score ³8, weighted N = 22,386), respectively. Interactions were tested between social grade and the change in slope after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and results reported stratified by social grade. Further logistic regression models assessed whether changes in the of receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol, respectively, from 12/2016 to 01/2017 and 10/2020 to 06/2022 (or 03/2022 in the case of BIs for alcohol), depended on history of a mental health condition. Results: The receipt of smoking BIs declined from an average prevalence of 31.8% (95%CI 29.4–35.0) pre-March 2020 to 24.4% (95%CI 23.5–25.4) post-March 2020. The best-fitting model found that after March 2020 there was a 12-month decline before stabilising by June 2022 in social grade ABC1 at a lower level (~ 20%) and rebounding among social grade C2DE (~ 27%). Receipt of BIs for alcohol was low (overall: 4.1%, 95%CI 3.9–4.4) and the prevalence was similar pre- and post-March 2020. Conclusions: The receipt of BIs for smoking declined following March 2020 but rebounded among priority socioeconomic groups of people who smoked. BIs for alcohol among those who use alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels were low and there was no appreciable change over time. Maintaining higher BI delivery among socioeconomic and mental health priority groups of smokers and increasing and higher risk alcohol users is important to support reductions in smoking and alcohol related inequalities.

Original language	English
Article number	76
Journal	BMC Public Health
Volume	24
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17559-7
Publication status	Published - 3 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Authors are members of the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England), and the UK devolved administrations and leading health research charities. JB reports receiving grants from Cancer Research UK during the conduct of the study and receiving unrestricted research funding from pharmaceutical companies (J&J and Pfizer) who manufacture smoking cessation medications to study smoking cessation outside the submitted work. LS reports receiving honoraria for talks, receiving an unrestricted research grant and travel expenses to attend meetings and workshops by pharmaceutical companies that make smoking cessation products (Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson), and acting as a paid reviewer for grant-awarding bodies and as a paid consultant for healthcare companies. LK, LB and CA have no competing interests to declare. CG and MO are paid scientific consultants for the behaviour change and lifestyle organisation ‘One Year No Beer’.

Funding Information:
Data collection for the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies is supported by Cancer Research UK (C1417/A22962) and the UK Prevention Research Partnership (MR/S037519/1). Authors are supported by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England), and the UK devolved administrations and leading health research charities.

Funding Information:
We would like to thank members of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group for providing comments on a draft of the protocol and final manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024, The Author(s).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Research Groups and Themes

TARG

Keywords

Alcohol
Brief interventions
COVID-19
General practice
Smoking

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title = "Brief interventions for smoking and alcohol associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: a population survey in England",

abstract = "Background: Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 health care delivery underwent considerable changes. It is unclear how this may have affected the delivery of Brief Interventions (BIs) for smoking and alcohol. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol in primary care in England and whether certain priority groups (e.g., less advantaged socioeconomic positions, or a history of a mental health condition) were differentially affected. Methods: We used nationally representative data from a monthly cross-sectional survey in England between 03/2014 and 06/2022. Monthly trends in the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol were examined using generalised additive models among adults who smoked in the past-year (weighted N = 31,390) and those using alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels (AUDIT score 38, weighted N = 22,386), respectively. Interactions were tested between social grade and the change in slope after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and results reported stratified by social grade. Further logistic regression models assessed whether changes in the of receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol, respectively, from 12/2016 to 01/2017 and 10/2020 to 06/2022 (or 03/2022 in the case of BIs for alcohol), depended on history of a mental health condition. Results: The receipt of smoking BIs declined from an average prevalence of 31.8\% (95\%CI 29.4–35.0) pre-March 2020 to 24.4\% (95\%CI 23.5–25.4) post-March 2020. The best-fitting model found that after March 2020 there was a 12-month decline before stabilising by June 2022 in social grade ABC1 at a lower level (\textasciitilde{} 20\%) and rebounding among social grade C2DE (\textasciitilde{} 27\%). Receipt of BIs for alcohol was low (overall: 4.1\%, 95\%CI 3.9–4.4) and the prevalence was similar pre- and post-March 2020. Conclusions: The receipt of BIs for smoking declined following March 2020 but rebounded among priority socioeconomic groups of people who smoked. BIs for alcohol among those who use alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels were low and there was no appreciable change over time. Maintaining higher BI delivery among socioeconomic and mental health priority groups of smokers and increasing and higher risk alcohol users is important to support reductions in smoking and alcohol related inequalities.",

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author = "Loren Kock and Lion Shahab and Claire Garnett and Melissa Oldham and Harry Tattan-Birch and Colin Angus and Leonie Brose and Jamie Brown",

note = "Funding Information: Authors are members of the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England), and the UK devolved administrations and leading health research charities. JB reports receiving grants from Cancer Research UK during the conduct of the study and receiving unrestricted research funding from pharmaceutical companies (J\&J and Pfizer) who manufacture smoking cessation medications to study smoking cessation outside the submitted work. LS reports receiving honoraria for talks, receiving an unrestricted research grant and travel expenses to attend meetings and workshops by pharmaceutical companies that make smoking cessation products (Pfizer and Johnson \& Johnson), and acting as a paid reviewer for grant-awarding bodies and as a paid consultant for healthcare companies. LK, LB and CA have no competing interests to declare. CG and MO are paid scientific consultants for the behaviour change and lifestyle organisation {\textquoteleft}One Year No Beer{\textquoteright}. Funding Information: Data collection for the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies is supported by Cancer Research UK (C1417/A22962) and the UK Prevention Research Partnership (MR/S037519/1). Authors are supported by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England), and the UK devolved administrations and leading health research charities. Funding Information: We would like to thank members of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group for providing comments on a draft of the protocol and final manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024, The Author(s).",

year = "2024",

month = jan,

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doi = "10.1186/s12889-023-17559-7",

language = "English",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Brief interventions for smoking and alcohol associated with the COVID-19 pandemic

T2 - a population survey in England

AU - Kock, Loren

AU - Shahab, Lion

AU - Garnett, Claire

AU - Oldham, Melissa

AU - Tattan-Birch, Harry

AU - Angus, Colin

AU - Brose, Leonie

AU - Brown, Jamie

N1 - Funding Information: Authors are members of the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England), and the UK devolved administrations and leading health research charities. JB reports receiving grants from Cancer Research UK during the conduct of the study and receiving unrestricted research funding from pharmaceutical companies (J&J and Pfizer) who manufacture smoking cessation medications to study smoking cessation outside the submitted work. LS reports receiving honoraria for talks, receiving an unrestricted research grant and travel expenses to attend meetings and workshops by pharmaceutical companies that make smoking cessation products (Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson), and acting as a paid reviewer for grant-awarding bodies and as a paid consultant for healthcare companies. LK, LB and CA have no competing interests to declare. CG and MO are paid scientific consultants for the behaviour change and lifestyle organisation ‘One Year No Beer’. Funding Information: Data collection for the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies is supported by Cancer Research UK (C1417/A22962) and the UK Prevention Research Partnership (MR/S037519/1). Authors are supported by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England), and the UK devolved administrations and leading health research charities. Funding Information: We would like to thank members of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group for providing comments on a draft of the protocol and final manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2024, The Author(s).

PY - 2024/1/3

Y1 - 2024/1/3

N2 - Background: Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 health care delivery underwent considerable changes. It is unclear how this may have affected the delivery of Brief Interventions (BIs) for smoking and alcohol. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol in primary care in England and whether certain priority groups (e.g., less advantaged socioeconomic positions, or a history of a mental health condition) were differentially affected. Methods: We used nationally representative data from a monthly cross-sectional survey in England between 03/2014 and 06/2022. Monthly trends in the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol were examined using generalised additive models among adults who smoked in the past-year (weighted N = 31,390) and those using alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels (AUDIT score 38, weighted N = 22,386), respectively. Interactions were tested between social grade and the change in slope after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and results reported stratified by social grade. Further logistic regression models assessed whether changes in the of receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol, respectively, from 12/2016 to 01/2017 and 10/2020 to 06/2022 (or 03/2022 in the case of BIs for alcohol), depended on history of a mental health condition. Results: The receipt of smoking BIs declined from an average prevalence of 31.8% (95%CI 29.4–35.0) pre-March 2020 to 24.4% (95%CI 23.5–25.4) post-March 2020. The best-fitting model found that after March 2020 there was a 12-month decline before stabilising by June 2022 in social grade ABC1 at a lower level (~ 20%) and rebounding among social grade C2DE (~ 27%). Receipt of BIs for alcohol was low (overall: 4.1%, 95%CI 3.9–4.4) and the prevalence was similar pre- and post-March 2020. Conclusions: The receipt of BIs for smoking declined following March 2020 but rebounded among priority socioeconomic groups of people who smoked. BIs for alcohol among those who use alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels were low and there was no appreciable change over time. Maintaining higher BI delivery among socioeconomic and mental health priority groups of smokers and increasing and higher risk alcohol users is important to support reductions in smoking and alcohol related inequalities.

AB - Background: Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 health care delivery underwent considerable changes. It is unclear how this may have affected the delivery of Brief Interventions (BIs) for smoking and alcohol. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol in primary care in England and whether certain priority groups (e.g., less advantaged socioeconomic positions, or a history of a mental health condition) were differentially affected. Methods: We used nationally representative data from a monthly cross-sectional survey in England between 03/2014 and 06/2022. Monthly trends in the receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol were examined using generalised additive models among adults who smoked in the past-year (weighted N = 31,390) and those using alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels (AUDIT score 38, weighted N = 22,386), respectively. Interactions were tested between social grade and the change in slope after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and results reported stratified by social grade. Further logistic regression models assessed whether changes in the of receipt of BIs for smoking and alcohol, respectively, from 12/2016 to 01/2017 and 10/2020 to 06/2022 (or 03/2022 in the case of BIs for alcohol), depended on history of a mental health condition. Results: The receipt of smoking BIs declined from an average prevalence of 31.8% (95%CI 29.4–35.0) pre-March 2020 to 24.4% (95%CI 23.5–25.4) post-March 2020. The best-fitting model found that after March 2020 there was a 12-month decline before stabilising by June 2022 in social grade ABC1 at a lower level (~ 20%) and rebounding among social grade C2DE (~ 27%). Receipt of BIs for alcohol was low (overall: 4.1%, 95%CI 3.9–4.4) and the prevalence was similar pre- and post-March 2020. Conclusions: The receipt of BIs for smoking declined following March 2020 but rebounded among priority socioeconomic groups of people who smoked. BIs for alcohol among those who use alcohol at increasing and higher risk levels were low and there was no appreciable change over time. Maintaining higher BI delivery among socioeconomic and mental health priority groups of smokers and increasing and higher risk alcohol users is important to support reductions in smoking and alcohol related inequalities.

KW - Alcohol

KW - Brief interventions

KW - COVID-19

KW - General practice

KW - Smoking

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85181233902

U2 - 10.1186/s12889-023-17559-7

DO - 10.1186/s12889-023-17559-7

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 38172788

AN - SCOPUS:85181233902

SN - 1471-2458

SN - 1472-698X

VL - 24

JO - BMC Public Health

JF - BMC Public Health

IS - 1

M1 - 76

ER -

Brief interventions for smoking and alcohol associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: a population survey in England

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research Groups and Themes

Keywords

Access to Document

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