A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies on Factors Associated With Smoking Cessation Among Adolescents and Young Adults.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize findings from qualitative studies on factors associated with smoking cessation among adolescents and young adults. DATA SOURCES: We searched Pubmed, Psychinfo, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, and SCOPUS databases, as well as reference lists, for peer-reviewed articles published in English or French between January 1, 2000, and November 18, 2020. We used keywords such as adolescents, determinants, cessation, smoking, and qualitative methods. STUDY SELECTION: Of 1724 records identified, we included 39 articles that used qualitative or mixed methods, targeted adolescents and young adults aged 10-24, and aimed to identify factors associated with smoking cessation or smoking reduction. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently extracted the data using a standardized form. We assessed study quality using the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence checklist for qualitative studies. DATA SYNTHESIS: We used an aggregative meta-synthesis approach and identified 39 conceptually distinct factors associated with smoking cessation. We grouped them into two categories: (1) environmental factors [tobacco control policies, pro-smoking norms, smoking cessation services and interventions, influence of friends and family], and (2) individual attributes (psychological characteristics, attitudes, pre-quitting smoking behavior, nicotine dependence symptoms, and other substances use). We developed a synthetic framework that captured the factors identified, the links that connect them, and their associations with smoking cessation. CONCLUSIONS: This qualitative synthesis offers new insights on factors related to smoking cessation services, interventions, and attitudes about cessation (embarrassment when using cessation services) not reported in quantitative reviews, supplementing limited evidence for developing cessation programs for young persons who smoke. IMPLICATIONS: Using an aggregative meta-synthesis approach, this study identified 39 conceptually distinct factors grouped into two categories: Environmental factors and individual attributes. These findings highlight the importance of considering both environmental and individual factors when developing smoking cessation programs for young persons who smoke. The study also sheds light on self-conscious emotions towards cessation, such as embarrassment when using cessation services, which are often overlooked in quantitative reviews. Overall, this study has important implications for developing effective smoking cessation interventions and policies that address the complex factors influencing smoking behavior among young persons.

Prognostic association of medication trajectories with 3-year mortality in heart failure and preserved ejection fraction: findings from the EPICAL2 cohort study.

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to describe combinations of beta-blockers (BB), renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) prescriptions and their trajectories in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients, and to assess their effect on the three-year all-cause and cardiovascular (CV)-mortality. METHODS: We used data from the EPICAL2 cohort of 689 hospitalized HFpEF patients. Medication prescriptions were collected at hospital discharge and at 6, 12, and 24 months after discharge. A multi-trajectory approach was used to conjointly model groups of individuals following similar trajectories over medications prescriptions. We used Cox and Fine-Gray models, to evaluate respectively the associations between 3-year all-cause mortality and CV-mortality and the trajectory groups. RESULTS: Multi-trajectory modelling revealed five distinct trajectory groups: group1 (N = 232, 33.6%) stable ACEI/ARB and BB prescriptions, group 2 (N = 199, 28.8%) stable ACEI/ARB prescription, group 3 (N = 133, 19.3%) stable BB prescriptions, group 4 (N = 78, 11.3%) stable prescriptions of none of the medications, and group 5 (N = 47, 6.8%) stable ACEI/ARB, BB, and MRA prescriptions. As compared to the group 4 of patients receiving none of the three medications, patients receiving a stable prescription of one or a combination of two or the three medications over 2 years) had a lower overall mortality over 3-year follow-up, i.e., group 1 (HR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.4-0.8), group 2 (HR = 0.6, 95% CI:0.4-0.8), group 3 (HR = 0.5, 95% CI:0.4-0.7), and group 5 (HR = 0.5, 95% CI:0.3-0.9). However, none of these trajectory groups was associated with a lower CV-mortality over 3 years. CONCLUSION: In an unselected population-based sample of HFpEF patients, the long-term stable use of the combination ACEI/ARB and BB, BB exclusively, ACEI/ARB exclusively, or the combination ACEI/ARB and BB and MRAs was associated with reduced three-year all-cause mortality.

Sustained adherence to ESC guideline-recommended medications is associated with lower long-term mortality in heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: Insights from the EPICAL2 cohort.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: The real-life prognostic impact on long-term survival of continuous or discontinuous adherence to ESC guideline-recommended drugs in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients has rarely been investigated. Here, we present the long-term association of longitudinal prescription of guideline-recommended drugs with 3-year all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality in HFrEF patients. METHODS: We used data from the EPICAL2 cohort study of 624 hospitalized HFrEF patients. Using the sequence analysis, we classified patients into five groups of long-term adherence according to the continuity/discontinuity of their prescription adherence to guidelines over a 3-year follow-up, as follow: 316 (50.6%) patients in the sustained adherence group, 163 (26.1%) in the sustained non-adherence group, 79 (12.6%) in the adherence to non-adherence group, 43 (6.9%) in the non-adherence to adherence group and 23 (3.7%) in the multiple switches group. The associations between all-cause mortality and CV mortality and the adherence groups were determined by Cox and Fine-Gray models, respectively. To account for immortal time bias, we performed a landmark analysis at 24 months. Patients who died, prior to the landmark time, were excluded from this analysis and long-term adherence groups were redefined. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: After adjustment for confounding factors, as compared to the sustained non-adherence group, the sustained adherence group showed lower all-cause and CV mortality (hazard ratio HR = 0.37 [0.25-0.56] and sub-distribution hazard ratio SHR = 0.33 [0.20-0.56]). Both clinical outcomes were also significantly improved in the adherence to non-adherence group (HR = 0.25 [0.13-0.45] and SHR = 0.20 [0.10-0.41]), the non-adherence to adherence (HR = 0.24 [0.11-0.55] and SHR = 0.11 [0.04-0.30]), and for the multiple switches group (HR = 0.13 [0.07-0.51] and SHR = 0.12 [0.08-0.43]). Results from landmark analysis were comparable to the main results. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: As in all observational studies, our results may be affected by residual confounding related to unmeasured confounders, although we attempted to adjust for many confounders. Even a discontinuous prescription of the recommended drugs over time was associated with better long-term outcomes. In other words, whatever the time of HFrEF evolution, prescribing recommended drugs at some point was always better than never prescribing.

Adherence to ESC guideline-recommended medications over a 36-month follow-up period after hospitalization for heart failure: Results from the EPICAL2 cohort study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to describe the trajectories of oral medication prescriptions in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) over 3 years after discharge from hospitalization for heart failure. We then evaluated the adherence of these prescriptions to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guideline-recommended medications and identified patient characteristics associated with nonadherence. METHODS: We used data from the EPICAL2 cohort study. HFrEF patients who had completed prescriptions at discharge and at 6-month follow-up were included and followed for 36 months. The following medication agents were considered adherent to guidelines: renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers [angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) or an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB)] plus a ß-blocker (BB) or RAS blocker plus BB plus mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs). The evolution of drug prescriptions and the adherence to ESC guidelines were assessed by using sequence analysis and clustering approaches. Patient characteristics associated with nonadherence were identified by logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: A typology of four therapeutic clusters was obtained, among which two clusters were adherent to recommendations and two were not. The adherent clusters consisted of bitherapy (RAS blockers-BB) and tritherapy (RAS blockers-BB-MRA) for about 64% of patients and remain stable over time. The nonadherent clusters consisted of nonprescription of BB for about 22% of patients or nonprescription of RAS blocker for about 14%. The main reason for nonprescription of BB was a concomitant obstructive airway disease (asthma or COPD) but was a concomitant chronic kidney disease for nonprescription of RAS blocker. CONCLUSION: Adherence to guideline-recommended medications while being hospitalized is of great importance because prescriptions are quite stable over time after discharge. HFrEF patients are most often older, with various comorbidities, such as chronic kidney disease or asthma/COPD, which importantly limit physicians' ability to prescribe recommended drugs, leading to suboptimal adherence to guidelines.

Five-year Evolution Patterns of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Patients with Lower-limb Osteoarthritis and Their Sociodemographic and Clinical Correlates.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to identify trajectories of physical activity (PA) components (frequency, duration, intensity, and type) and screen-based sedentary behavior (SB) as well as baseline predictors of each trajectory in patients with hip and/or knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: We included 878 patients with a 5-year follow-up from the KHOALA cohort. PA and SB were measured by the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire. We used group-based trajectory analysis to identify the trajectories of PA components and screen-based SB, and multivariable logistic regression to determine predictors of the identified trajectories. RESULTS: Two groups of trajectories were identified for each PA component and 3 for SB. High and decreasing PA duration was associated with female sex (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.5) as was low and stable, more so than high and decreasing prevalence of weight-bearing activities (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4-0.9). Patients with impaired patient-reported outcome measures and obese patients often featured low versus high and decreasing prevalence of weight-bearing activities. Predictors of moderate and high versus low and slightly increasing screen-based SB trajectories were male sex, age < 60 years, single status (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1), obesity (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.1), smoking (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.7), and less physical jobs. Predictors of moderate and high versus low screen-based SB trajectories were all sociodemographic: male sex, age < 60 years, single status, obesity, smoking, and less physical jobs. CONCLUSION: Sociodemographic and clinical predictors of trajectories vary between PA components; they are associated mainly with PA frequency and type. No clinical characteristics were associated with screen-based SB.