Project description:This study explored methylation, clinical, and other molecular alterations longitudinally over the course of smoking cessatio in healthy women aged 30 to 60. Here, we present methylation data from three matched sample types - buccal, cervical, and blood - longitudinally over the course of six months (baseline, month 2, month 4, and month 6).
Project description:BackgroundSince smoking is the leading cause of preventable death, discouraging smoking initiation, encouraging smoking cessation, and exploring factors that help individuals to stay smoke free are immensely important. One such relevant factor may be the impact of lifestyle for long-term smoking cessation.MethodA representative sample of successful quitters was recruited for a study about smoking cessation. These respondents are now part of a 7-year follow-up with the overall aim of revealing factors affecting long-term smoking cessation. Descriptive analyses were carried out at baseline and at follow-up, as well as a further two-step cluster analysis to explore profiles of long-term smoke-free individuals.ResultsA majority did not make any particular lifestyle changes, but among those who did, most adopted a healthier lifestyle and/or increased their quota of physical training, where permanent changes in this direction seem to promote a more enduring smoke-free life.ConclusionsIndividuals who want to quit smoking should be encouraged to increase their level of physical activity. Swedish health care institutions should be able to provide support for this both initially and over time to promote the long-term maintenance of a smoke-free lifestyle.
Project description:Introduction: Hypnosis-based apps geared toward smoking cessation are among the most downloaded by individuals wanting to reduce or stop smoking. However, to date, there are few evaluations regarding the use or efficacy of hypnosis apps for smoking cessation. Finito is an empirically-based mHealth app developed by Mindset Health designed to provide users with a three-week hypnotherapy program to quit smoking. This study aimed to examine demographic and clinical characteristics of Finito app users and conduct a preliminary analysis of survey data from participants of the program. Method: Finito app users were asked to voluntarily complete an online survey regarding their experience with the program, current smoking habits, app usability, relevant improvement, and demographic information. Retrospective data analyses were conducted to provide descriptive and inferential findings from the responses. Results: A total of 120 individuals responded to the survey. Respondents originated from over five different countries and approximately 72.5% reported completing the full Finito program. Approximately 58.3% of participants reported that they accomplished their goal with Finito with 50.8% of all respondents reporting that they quit smoking and an additional 25.8% reporting that their smoking was reduced. Among a variety of secondary outcomes, saving money was the most frequently reported secondary benefit with 46.7% of respondents endorsing that item. Conclusion: Our preliminary survey results suggest that Finito may be a useful, pleasant, and cost-effective tool in a patient's journey to quit smoking. The majority of app users reported that they achieved their goal with Finito and completion of the program was associated with goal achievement. The Finito app may be effective in the dissemination and delivery of a helpful hypnotherapy intervention across a diverse population.
Project description:Several studies have examined the efficacy of smoking cessation therapies in the general population. However little is known about the efficacy of these advisory methods in cardiovascular patients.The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence and the characteristics of smoking abstinence in cardiovascular patients, after a smoking intervention during hospitalization.The study involved 442 patients, smokers admitted for cardiovascular disease to the Department of Cardiology. During hospitalization patient's data were collected and all patients were subjected to a 30-minutes long advisory session with drug administration in selected cases (varenicycline, bupropione, nocitine replacement therapy), according to standard protocol. After the discharge patients were asked about smoking abstinence at time intervals of 24 hours, 1 month, 3, 6 and 12 months.After hospital discharge 11 patients (2.49%) could not be contacted after several attempts and 19 patients (4.3%) were died during follow up period. A total of 412 patients (218 men and 194 women, mean age 56.49+10.57 years) made up the final study population. Twenty four hours after hospital discharge 364 patients (88.35%) had quitted smoking. At 1, 3, 6 and 12 months the abstinence rates were 70.87%, 64.8%, 55.82% and 47.83% respectively. Patients with ischaemic cardiovascular diseases (angina - infarction) had a significantly higher probability of quitting smoking at 12 months (Hazard ratio: 0.64 - p=0.01).A smoking cessation program in cardiovascular patients during hospitalization was unlikely to result in success. These patients might benefit by following programs promoting smoking cessation in experienced specialized centers, involving a group of health professionals, such as psychologists and/or trained nurses.
Project description:BackgroundInterest in quitting smoking is common among young adults who smoke, but it can prove challenging. Although evidence-based smoking cessation interventions exist and are effective, a lack of access to these interventions specifically designed for young adults remains a major barrier for this population to successfully quit smoking. Therefore, researchers have begun to develop modern, smartphone-based interventions to deliver smoking cessation messages at the appropriate place and time for an individual. A promising approach is the delivery of interventions using geofences-spatial buffers around high-risk locations for smoking that trigger intervention messages when an individual's phone enters the perimeter. Despite growth in personalized and ubiquitous smoking cessation interventions, few studies have incorporated spatial methods to optimize intervention delivery using place and time information.ObjectiveThis study demonstrates an exploratory method of generating person-specific geofences around high-risk areas for smoking by presenting 4 case studies using a combination of self-reported smartphone-based surveys and passively tracked location data. The study also examines which geofence construction method could inform a subsequent study design that will automate the process of deploying coping messages when young adults enter geofence boundaries.MethodsData came from an ecological momentary assessment study with young adult smokers conducted from 2016 to 2017 in the San Francisco Bay area. Participants reported smoking and nonsmoking events through a smartphone app for 30 days, and GPS data was recorded by the app. We sampled 4 cases along ecological momentary assessment compliance quartiles and constructed person-specific geofences around locations with self-reported smoking events for each 3-hour time interval using zones with normalized mean kernel density estimates exceeding 0.7. We assessed the percentage of smoking events captured within geofences constructed for 3 types of zones (census blocks, 500 ft2 fishnet grids, and 1000 ft2 fishnet grids). Descriptive comparisons were made across the 4 cases to better understand the strengths and limitations of each geofence construction method.ResultsThe number of reported past 30-day smoking events ranged from 12 to 177 for the 4 cases. Each 3-hour geofence for 3 of the 4 cases captured over 50% of smoking events. The 1000 ft2 fishnet grid captured the highest percentage of smoking events compared to census blocks across the 4 cases. Across 3-hour periods except for 3:00 AM-5:59 AM for 1 case, geofences contained an average of 36.4%-100% of smoking events. Findings showed that fishnet grid geofences may capture more smoking events compared to census blocks.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that this geofence construction method can identify high-risk smoking situations by time and place and has potential for generating individually tailored geofences for smoking cessation intervention delivery. In a subsequent smartphone-based smoking cessation intervention study, we plan to use fishnet grid geofences to inform the delivery of intervention messages.