The number of people seeking help to quit smoking plummeted 27% last year as the public grappled with stress\u00a0during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report says.<\/p>\n
About 190,000 fewer\u00a0Americans last year called toll-free smoking cessation help lines compared to the year before, and cigarette sales increased after years of decline, according to a\u00a0North American Quitline Consortium report issued Friday.<\/p>\n
Officials attributed the decline in calls \u2013 the lowest number since 2007 \u2013 to stress, anxiety, depression and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sharpest drop of 39% came from April through June as states enacted widespread shutdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19.\u00a0The 1-800-QUIT-NOW line is a national portal that directs callers to state smoking-cessation help lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cQuitting is not an easy thing to do,\u201d said Linda Bailey, President and CEO of North American Quitline Consortium. \u201cThe past year was just not the time when people thought they had the emotional strength to really fight craving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smoking rates among adults have declined significantly in recent decades as public\u00a0 health campaigns spread\u00a0awareness of smoking’s health risks, which include lung and other cancers, heart disease and\u00a0chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.<\/p>\n
Adult smoking rates dropped from 42% in 1965 to 14% in 2019, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has not released last year’s data but the Quitline report cited U.S. Treasury Department data showing\u00a0cigarette sales increased 1% in 2020 after dropping 4 to 5% each year since 2015.<\/p>\n
Experts said fewer people sought help to quit smoking last year as more Americans struggled with mental health and addiction during the pandemic.\u00a0About 2\u00a0in 5 Americans reported significant mental health symptoms in a CDC survey last summer, said\u00a0Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.<\/p>\n
“We know there\u2019s been more relapse with opiates. We know there\u2019s been more relapse\u00a0with alcohol,” Duckworth said. “Smoking is a big challenge for people with serious mental illness and our population represents a significant subset of people who smoke.”<\/p>\n
Current and former smokers also face greater risk of severe illness from COVID-19. A Cleveland Clinic study of 7,102 patients with COVID-19 found\u00a0heavy smokers were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized and nearly twice as likely to die compared to people who never smoked. However, researchers warned the study, based on patient visits to Cleveland Clinic sites in Ohio and Florida, might not translate to the overall population because participants were more likely to be wealthier and have consistent access to health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than two-thirds of adult smokers reported interest in quitting before the pandemic and most tried to quit\u00a0in 2019, according to a Surgeon General report released January 2020.<\/p>\n
But smokers who were interested in quitting might have faced other barriers. Non-emergency doctors appointments were canceled during shutdowns and widespread job losses mean many lost access the employer-provided health insurance plans that\u00a0 typically\u00a0cover counseling and smoking-cessation medications, said Anne DiGiulio, national director of lung health policy at the American Lung Association.<\/p>\n
Still, Bailey said the national quit line is free and offers people access to counseling. Most state smoking-cessation programs offer for free at least two weeks of nicotine-replacement treatments such as a patch, gum or\u00a0lozenges, but the programs typically do not provide prescriptions for longer-term medications.<\/p>\n
Bailey said state and local health departments were overwhelmed during the early weeks of the pandemic and did not have time or resources for extra messaging about the harms of tobacco. However, public health warnings resumed later in 2020 and Bailey said she expects more people will seek to kick smoking habits this summer.<\/p>\n
“During the pandemic it\u2019s especially important for smokers to consider quitting,” Bailey said. “You are not at more risk of getting COVID-19. But should you get the disease, you are much more likely to have serious consequences.”<\/p>\n