The experience of tobacco withdrawal symptoms among current smokers and ex-smokers in the general population: Findings from nationwide China Health Literacy Survey during 2018-19.
Front Psychiatry
; 13: 1023756, 2022.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36713929
ABSTRACT
Objective:
To clarify the extent to which smokers in the general population experience tobacco withdrawal symptoms and whether such experience differs in those who continue to smoke and those who stopped smoking.Methods:
We included relevant questions in the nationally-representative China Health Literacy Survey (CHLS) conducted in 2018-2019. Among 87,028 participants, there were 22,115 ever-smokers aged 20-69 years who provided information on their smoking history and their experience of tobacco withdrawal symptoms. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to explore the association between withdrawal symptoms and other variables.Results:
Among ever-smokers, there were 19,643 (88.8%) current smokers and 2,472 (11.2%) ex-smokers. Among current smokers, 61.3% reported having tried to quit smoking in the past. Overall, 61.1% of current smokers reported experiencing withdrawal symptoms 69.9% of those who tried to quit smoking in the past and 47.5% of those who did not. A lower proportion of ex-smokers experienced withdrawal symptoms (46.3%) and the difference remained significant after controlling for demographic characteristics (OR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.62-1.93, P < 0.001). The most commonly reported withdrawal symptoms in both current smokers and ex-smokers were craving, restlessness and anxiety. In the multivariable-adjusted analyses, those who experienced withdrawal symptoms when they tried to quit smoking (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.86-2.27) were less likely to successfully quit.Conclusions:
The clinical picture of the tobacco withdrawal syndrome is the same in current smokers and in ex-smokers, but ex-smokers are less likely to have experienced it. The experience of discomfort when unable to smoke is common and seems likely to be a major factor contributing to maintaining smoking behavior not just among individuals seeking help with quitting smoking, but among smokers generally.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article