Haddad Nina Rossa, Aoun Charbel B, Mghames Abdo, Saleh Mustafa, Chahine Mirna N
Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Division of Medical Ethics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Tob Use Insights. 2024 May 13;17:1179173X241253962. doi: 10.1177/1179173X241253962. eCollection 2024.
Smoking habits have widely changed over time; however, they remain a well-known fashion that risks people's health. In addition, nicotine addiction depends on the interplay between several factors. Our study aimed to understand the smoking habits and nicotine dependence in the Lebanese population before (September 2019) and during (June 2020) the economic crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.
This observational cross-sectional survey-based study included 1560 Lebanese individuals aged between 13 and 75 years old from June till October 2020. Data collection was performed through an electronic survey including patients' demographics and validated instruments to assess addiction to nicotine (CAGE, Four C's, Fagerström test, and Smoker's profile scores).
Out of 1560 participants, 794 (50.9%) were males. The mean age was 26.5 ± 11.69 years, and 67.8% were aged between 18 and 25 years old. We found that 865 (55.4%) participants were smokers. In addition, smoking cigarettes or vaping, significantly increased between September 2019 and June 2020. Our smoker group showed a high CAGE positivity ( < .001), marked compulsion ( < .001), and a considerable lack of self-control to surcease smoking ( < .001). Furthermore, the nicotine dependence score (NDS) increased with age (B = .166) and decreased with higher educational levels (B = -.219).
During the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lebanese population showed an increased prevalence of smoking, a high level of CAGE positivity, strong compulsion, and a significant lack of self-control when it came to quitting smoking. This strongly entails public health measures for smoking cessation through national awareness campaigns.
吸烟习惯随时间发生了广泛变化；然而，吸烟仍是一种广为人知的危害人们健康的行为。此外，尼古丁成瘾取决于多种因素之间的相互作用。我们的研究旨在了解黎巴嫩人群在经济危机和新冠疫情之前（2019年9月）和期间（2020年6月）的吸烟习惯和尼古丁依赖情况。
这项基于观察性横断面调查的研究纳入了2020年6月至10月期间1560名年龄在13至75岁之间的黎巴嫩人。通过电子调查问卷收集数据，内容包括患者的人口统计学信息以及用于评估尼古丁成瘾的经过验证的工具（CAGE问卷、四C问卷、法格斯特龙测试和吸烟者概况评分）。
在1560名参与者中，794名（50.9%）为男性。平均年龄为26.5±11.69岁，67.8%的人年龄在18至25岁之间。我们发现865名（55.4%）参与者为吸烟者。此外，2019年9月至2020年6月期间，吸烟或吸电子烟的情况显著增加。我们的吸烟者群体显示出较高的CAGE阳性率（<.001）、明显的强迫性（<.001）以及在戒烟方面相当缺乏自我控制能力（<.001）。此外，尼古丁依赖评分（NDS）随年龄增加而升高（B =.166），随教育水平提高而降低（B = -.219）。
在经济危机和新冠疫情期间，黎巴嫩人群吸烟率上升，CAGE阳性率高，强迫性强，在戒烟方面严重缺乏自我控制能力。这强烈需要通过全国性的宣传活动采取公共卫生戒烟措施。
