The impact of perceived risk of COVID-19 from smoking on the change in number of cigarettes smoked.

Smoking increases the risk of severe illness and mortality from COVID-19. However, the impact of risk perception on smoking over time is unknown. Participants (n = 487) who reported having smoked daily or nondaily in February 2020 were recruited through Reddit and completed a cross-sectional survey. Linear regression models examined the impact of perception that smoking increases the risk of COVID-19 on changes in cigarettes per day (CPD). The greater perceived risk of smoking on COVID-19 predicted greater decreases in CPD from before the pandemic (December 2019 – February 2020) to March – May 2020, but no change was observed from March – May 2020 to June – August 2020. However, greater perceived risk predicted increases in CPD from June – August 2020 to November 2020 – January 2021. Participants with high levels of perceived risk (>75^th percentile) were more likely to reduce their CPD in the beginning of the pandemic compared to those with low perceived risk (≤25^th percentile), but more likely to increase their CPD between June – August 2020 to November 2020 – January 2021, even though perceived risk remained stable over time. Perceived risk is associated with a reduction in CPD, but participants returned to their pre-COVID smoking behavior within less than a year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]