Abstract
Background: Smoking cessation research output should move beyond descriptive research of the health problem to testing interventions that can provide causal data and effective evidence-based solutions. This review examined the number and type of published smoking cessation studies conducted in low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) and disadvantaged population groups. Methods: A systematic database search was conducted for two time periods: 2000–2004 (TP1) and 2008–2012 (TP2). Publications that examined smoking cessation in a low-SES or disadvantaged population were coded by: population of interest; study type (reviews, non-data based publications, data-based publications (descriptive, measurement and intervention research)); and country. Intervention studies were coded in accordance with the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care data collection checklist and use of biochemical verification of self-reported abstinence was assessed. Results: 278 citations were included. Research output (i.e., all study types) had increased from TP1 27% to TP2 73% (χ² = 73.13, p < 0.001), however, the proportion of data-based research had not significantly increased from TP1 and TP2: descriptive (TP1 = 23% vs. TP2 = 33%) or intervention (TP1 = 77% vs. TP2 = 67%). The proportion of intervention studies adopting biochemical verification of self-reported abstinence had significantly decreased from TP1 to TP2 with an increased reliance on self-reported abstinence (TP1 = 12% vs. TP2 = 36%). Conclusions: The current research output is not ideal or optimal to decrease smoking rates. Research institutions, scholars and funding organisations should take heed to review findings when developing future research and policy.
Highlights
Smoking rates have declined in most developed countries [1,2], but inequalities in smoking rates have persisted, or increased, over time [3,4,5,6]
Most recent estimates using the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Economics of Tobacco Toolkit indicate that the economic cost of smoking for people with mental illness in the UK was £2.34 billion from to 2010 [20]. This high cost and burden of disease attributable to tobacco smoking has led to calls for the “development and implementation of smoking cessation interventions” to be a “high economic and clinical priority” among low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) and disadvantaged population groups, smokers with mental disorders [20]
The Poisson regression was fitted to the generalized estimating equation (GEE), with time and country as predictors of research output
Summary
Smoking rates have declined in most developed countries [1,2], but inequalities in smoking rates have persisted, or increased, over time [3,4,5,6]. Most recent estimates using the WHO’s Economics of Tobacco Toolkit indicate that the economic cost of smoking for people with mental illness in the UK was £2.34 billion from to 2010 [20] This high cost and burden of disease attributable to tobacco smoking has led to calls for the “development and implementation of smoking cessation interventions” to be a “high economic and clinical priority” among low-SES and disadvantaged population groups, smokers with mental disorders [20]. This review examined the number and type of published smoking cessation studies conducted in low-socioeconomic status (low-SES). Publications that examined smoking cessation in a low-SES or disadvantaged population were coded by: population of interest; study type (reviews, non-data based publications, data-based publications (descriptive, measurement and intervention research)); and country.
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