Changes in prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of tobacco and nicotine use in Finland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on tobacco and nicotine use remains debated. We examined whether the prevalence of tobacco and nicotine use and nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether changes differed by sociodemographic groups. METHODS: Repeated cross-sectional study of three national surveys in Finland (2018, 2019 and 2020; n = 58 526 adults aged 20 and over). Outcomes were daily and occasional smoking, smokeless tobacco (snus) use, e-cigarettes use, total tobacco or nicotine use and NRT use. We examined changes for each outcome by sex, age, educational tertiles, marital status, mother tongue and social participation. RESULTS: Daily smoking decreased among males by 1.15 percentage points (pp) [95% confidence interval (CI) -2.10 to -0.20] between 2018 and 2020 and 0.86 pp among females (95% CI -1.58 to -0.15). Daily snus use remained stable in both sexes. Daily e-cigarette use was below 1% and remained stable. We found weak evidence of a reduction in total tobacco or nicotine use between 2018 and 2020 (males -1.18 pp, 95% CI -2.68 to 0.32 and females -0.8 pp, 95% CI -1.81 to 0.22). NRT use remained stable. Snus and NRT use decreased among 60- to 74-year-olds but remained stable in other age groups. We did not find evidence of interactions by subgroup for other outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Daily smoking decreased in Finland between 2018 and 2020, but other forms of tobacco use did not experience a reduction. The COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to have altered the sustained reduction of smoking in Finland, although substantial sociodemographic differences persist.

Changes in older people's quality of life in the COVID-19 era: a population-based study in Finland.

PURPOSE: We investigated how quality of life (QoL) changed between 2018 and 2020, and how its related factors, i.e., communication with friends and family, loneliness, and sleeping difficulties changed amid the early-phase COVID-19 pandemic among Finnish older people. METHODS: This study utilizes data from a repeated cross-sectional, population-based FinSote survey in 2018 and 2020. Participants were community-dwelling people aged 75 years or older (N = 9781 in 2018 and N = 9919 in 2020). QoL was assessed with the EUROHIS-QoL-8 scale. Changes in QoL-related factors were self-evaluated in 2020. Statistical methods included t test, Cohen's D, and chi-square test. To identify potential risk groups, all analyses were stratified by socio-demographic features including sex, age, economic deprivation, living alone, and difficulties in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). RESULTS: QoL improved slightly from 2018 to 2020 (means 3.68 and 3.81, respectively). Only those reporting economic deprivation demonstrated a slight decrease in QoL (3.24 vs. 3.14). Of respondents, 63% reported having less communication with friends and family, 42% having felt lonelier, and 20% having more sleeping difficulties amid the pandemic. Negative changes were more often reported by women, the oldest old, those living alone, reporting economic deprivation, or manifesting IADL difficulties. CONCLUSION: Finnish older people's QoL was not affected as much as expected amid the pandemic, although some population groups were, however, more susceptible to the negative effects of the pandemic on QoL-related factors. Results imply that various socio-demographic features may shape the effects of a global pandemic and its control measures on wellbeing.

Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population.

Empirical evidence, primarily based on hospital-based or voluntary samples, suggests that current smokers have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection than never smokers. In this study, we used nationally representative data to examine the association between tobacco use and the risk of having a confirmed COVID-19 case. We explored several forms of tobacco use, contributing to separate the role of nicotine from smoking. We used data from 44,199 participants from three pooled national health surveys in Finland (FinSote 2018-2020). The primary outcome was a confirmed COVID-19 case. We examined current smoking, moist smokeless tobacco (snus), e-cigarettes with and without nicotine and nicotine replacement therapy products. Current daily smokers had a relative risk of 1.12 of a confirmed COVID-19 case (95% CI 0.65; 1.94) in fully adjusted models compared with never smokers. Current snus use was associated with a 68% higher risk of a confirmed COVID-19 case (RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.02; 2.75) than never users. We did not find conclusive evidence of associations between e-cigarettes with and without nicotine and nicotine replacement therapy products and the risk of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Our findings suggest that nicotine might not have a protective role in the risk of COVID-19 as previously hypothesized.