1. Stress Increases the Association between Cigarette Smoking and Mental Disorders, as Measured by the COVID-19-Related Worry Scale, in the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) Cohort during the Pandemic
- Author
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Diaz-Martinez, Janet, Delgado-Enciso, Ivan, Campa, Adriana, Tamargo, Javier A, Martin, Haley R, Johnson, Angelique, Siminski, Suzanne, Gorbach, Pamina M, and Baum, Marianna K
- Subjects
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Clinical Sciences ,Tobacco Smoke and Health ,Brain Disorders ,Sexually Transmitted Infections ,Coronaviruses ,Infectious Diseases ,Tobacco ,Mental Health ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Emerging Infectious Diseases ,Clinical Research ,Coronaviruses Disparities and At-Risk Populations ,3.1 Primary prevention interventions to modify behaviours or promote wellbeing ,Good Health and Well Being ,Adult ,COVID-19 ,Cigarette Smoking ,HIV Infections ,Humans ,Mental Disorders ,Pandemics ,smoking ,COVID-19 stress ,HIV ,Toxicology - Abstract
Background: Smoking has been associated with mental disorders (MD). People who smoke are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and experiencing more severe symptoms of the illness. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between cigarette smoking and MD before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether it was influenced by COVID-19-related stress in the MASH cohort. Methods: An ambispective design was used with data collected during the pandemic (July/August 2020) by the COVID-19-Related Worry Scale, a parameter for stress, and data collected at the participants’ last cohort visit before the pandemic (December 2019). Results: In our sample of 314 participants, 58.6% were living with HIV, 39.2% had MD, 52.5% smoked before, and 47.8% smoked during the pandemic. Participants with MD were twice as likely to smoke cigarettes both before (aOR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.21−3.37, p = 0.007) and during the pandemic (aOR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.24−3.56, p = 0.006); and experienced higher levels of stress measured by the COVID-19-Related Worry Scale (8.59 [5.0−10.0] vs. 7.65 [5.0−10.0]; p = 0.026) compared to those without MD. Participants with MD and high levels of stress smoked more days per month (20.1 [0−30] days) than those with lower levels of stress (9.2 [0−30] days, p = 0.021), and more than those with high levels of stress, but no MD (2.6 [0−30] days, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Cigarette smoking decreased in the MASH cohort during the pandemic, but increased in participants with MD and higher levels of stress.
- Published
- 2022