A new study suggests that smokers and high-risk alcohol drinkers in England rarely use digital aids for smoking cessation and alcohol reduction.
The study included 3655 smokers and 2998 high-risk drinkers (scoring >4 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption [AUDIT-C]) who tried to quit/reduce in the past year. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and use of a digital aid in a recent quit/reduction attempt were collected through a survey as a part of the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies.
A digital aid was used by 2.7% (95% CI, 2.2-3.0%) of smokers and 3.6% (95% CI, 2.9-4.0%) of drinkers who had made a quit/reduction attempt in the past year. There was no significant association between survey year and use of a digital aid. The likelihood of adopting digital aids was higher in drinkers highly motivated to cut down their alcohol intake (ORadj, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.63-3.77; P<.001) and those with higher AUDIT scores (ORadj, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03–1.11; P<.001). Adoption of digital aids among smokers had no association with their baseline characteristics.
Writing in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the authors concluded: "Researchers and policy-makers should consider devising public health campaigns to increase awareness of digital aids and implementation strategies to ensure effective digital aids are integrated into routine health services."
