Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health & Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2021 Mar 22;23(3):e24593. doi: 10.2196/24593.
Smoking is a plausible risk factor for COVID-19 progression and complications. Smoking cessation digital platforms transcend pandemic-driven social distancing and lockdown measures in terms of assisting smokers in their quit attempts.
This study aims to examine trends in the number of visitors, followers, and subscribers on smoking cessation digital platforms from January to April 2020 and to compare these traffic data to those observed during the same 4-month period in 2019. The examination of prepandemic and postpandemic trends in smoking cessation digital platform traffic can reveal whether interest in smoking cessation among smokers is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We obtained cross-sectional data from daily visitors on the SmokeFree website; the followers of six SmokeFree social media accounts; and subscribers to the SmokeFree SMS text messaging and mobile app interventions of the National Cancer Institute's SmokeFree.gov initiative platforms, which are publicly available to US smokers. Average daily percentage changes (ADPCs) were used to measure trends for the entire 2020 and 2019 study periods, whereas daily percentage changes (DPCs) were used to measure trends for each time segment of change within each 4-month period. Data analysis was conducted in May and June 2020.
The number of new daily visitors on the SmokeFree website (between days 39 and 44: DPC=18.79%; 95% CI 5.16% to 34.19%) and subscribers to the adult-focused interventions QuitGuide (between days 11 and 62: DPC=1.11%; 95% CI 0.80% to 1.43%) and SmokeFreeTXT (between days 11 and 89: DPC=0.23%; 95% CI 0.004% to 0.47%) increased, but this was followed by declines in traffic. No comparable peaks were observed in 2019. The number of new daily subscribers to quitSTART (ie, the teen-focused intervention) trended downward in 2020 (ADPC=-1.02%; 95% CI -1.88% to -0.15%), whereas the overall trend in the number of subscribers in 2019 was insignificant (P=.07). The number of SmokeFree social media account followers steadily increased by <0.1% over the 4-month study periods in 2019 and 2020.
Peaks in traffic on the SmokeFree website and adult-focused intervention platforms in 2020 could be attributed to an increased interest in smoking cessation among smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coordinated campaigns, especially those for adolescents, should emphasize the importance of smoking cessation as a preventive measure against SARS-CoV-2 infection and raise awareness of digital smoking cessation platforms to capitalize on smokers' heightened interest during the pandemic.
吸烟是 COVID-19 进展和并发症的一个合理风险因素。戒烟数字平台超越了大流行驱动的社交距离和封锁措施，有助于吸烟者戒烟。
本研究旨在检查 2020 年 1 月至 4 月戒烟数字平台访客、关注者和订阅者数量的趋势，并将这些流量数据与 2019 年同期的观察结果进行比较。研究戒烟数字平台流量在大流行前和大流行后的趋势，可以揭示吸烟者对戒烟的兴趣是否归因于 COVID-19 大流行。
我们从 SmokeFree 网站的每日访客、六个 SmokeFree 社交媒体账户的关注者以及美国国家癌症研究所 SmokeFree.gov 计划平台的戒烟短信服务和移动应用干预措施的订阅者中获取了横断面数据，这些数据对美国吸烟者公开。使用平均每日百分比变化（ADPC）来衡量整个 2020 年和 2019 年研究期间的趋势，而使用每日百分比变化（DPC）来衡量每个 4 个月期间内每个变化时段的趋势。数据分析于 2020 年 5 月和 6 月进行。
SmokeFree 网站的新每日访客数量（第 39 天至第 44 天：DPC=18.79%；95%CI 5.16%至 34.19%）和成年定向干预措施 QuitGuide（第 11 天至第 62 天：DPC=1.11%；95%CI 0.80%至 1.43%）和 SmokeFreeTXT（第 11 天至第 89 天：DPC=0.23%；95%CI 0.004%至 0.47%）的新订阅者数量增加，但随后流量下降。2019 年没有观察到可比的峰值。2020 年，新的每日订阅 quitSTART（即青少年定向干预措施）的数量呈下降趋势（ADPC=-1.02%；95%CI-1.88%至-0.15%），而 2019 年订阅者总数的总体趋势不显著（P=.07）。2019 年和 2020 年，SmokeFree 社交媒体账户关注者数量在 4 个月的研究期间内稳步增加不到 0.1%。
SmokeFree 网站和成年定向干预平台在 2020 年的流量高峰可能归因于 COVID-19 大流行期间吸烟者对戒烟的兴趣增加。协调的运动，特别是针对青少年的运动，应强调戒烟作为预防 SARS-CoV-2 感染的重要措施，并提高对数字戒烟平台的认识，以利用大流行期间吸烟者的浓厚兴趣。
