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Attempts to quit smoking connected with lower alcohol consumption
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Smokers who began an attempt to quit smoking in the last week reported lower alcohol consumption, and were more likely to report attempting to reduce their drinking compared with smokers who did not report an effort to quit in the last week, according to a recent study.
“It is unclear at a population-level whether smokers follow advice to restrict alcohol during a quit attempt,” Jamie Brown, PhD, senior research fellow of the department of clinical, educational and health psychology at the University College London, and colleagues wrote. “To help tease apart the issue, it is also instructive to assess whether among smokers with higher-risk alcohol consumption there is an association between a recent attempt to quit smoking and a current attempt to cut down alcohol consumption.”
According to the researchers, alcohol consumption during attempts at smoking cessation can provoke relapse, so smokers are usually told to limit their drinking during this time. Brown and colleagues evaluated, at a population-level, whether smokers who recently started an attempt at smoking cessation are more likely than other smokers to report lower alcohol consumption and trying to reduce their alcohol consumption.
They used data from cross-sectional household surveys in England of 6,287 last-year smokers who also completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test consumption questionnaire (AUDIT-C). They compared participants who stated they attempted to quit smoking in the last week with those who did not. Respondents with AUDIT-C five or more were asked if they were currently trying to reduce alcohol consumption
Those who attempted to quit smoking within the last week had lower AUDIT-C scores compared with smokers who did not report a quit attempt (βadj = −0.56, 95% CI= −1.08 to −0.04). They were also less likely to be considered high risk (AUDIT-C ≥5: ORadj = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.85). Lower scores on the frequency of ‘binge’ drinking resulted in the lower AUDIT-C scores (βadj = −0.25, 95% CI = −0.43 to −0.07), for those who attempted to quit within the last week: They were less likely to binge drink weekly (ORadj = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.29-0.999) and more likely to not binge drink at all (ORadj = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.16-2.49).
Among those with higher risk consumption, an AUDIT-C more than 5, smokers who attempted smoking cessation within the last week were more likely to report trying to reduce their drinking (ORadj = 2.98; 95% CI, 1.48-6.01) than those without a recent quit attempt.
“Smokers who report a recent attempt to stop are more likely to report lower-risk alcohol consumption, including less frequent binge drinking, after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics,” Brown and colleagues wrote. “Among smokers with higher-risk alcohol consumption, those who report a last week attempt to stop are more likely to report also a current attempt to cut down on their drinking.” —by Savannah Demko
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.