Abstract
BackgroundDigital smoking cessation and alcohol reduction aids are widely available in England. To estimate their public health impact, researchers need to consider their adoption in the target population. We assessed adoption rates, and characteristics of adopters, of digital smoking cessation and alcohol reduction aids in England. Methods3655 smokers and 2998 high-risk drinkers (defined as a score of >4 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption; AUDIT-C) who had made a past-year quit/reduction attempt were surveyed as part of the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies between January 2015-October 2018. Respondents provided information on socio-demographic characteristics and whether they had used a digital aid in a recent quit/reduction attempt. Results2.7 % (95 % CI 2.2%–3.0%) of smokers and 3.6 % (95 % CI 2.9%–4.0%) of drinkers who had made a past-year quit/reduction attempt (26.9 % and 15.3 %, respectively) had used a digital aid. Survey year was not significantly associated with use in smokers or drinkers. None of the baseline characteristics were significantly associated with the use of a digital aid in smokers. Drinkers with high motivation to reduce alcohol consumption (ORadj = 2.49, 95 % CI 1.63–3.77, p < .001) and higher AUDIT scores (ORadj = 1.07, 95 % CI 1.03–1.11, p < .001) had greater odds of adoption. ConclusionsDigital smoking cessation and alcohol reduction aids are rarely used by smokers or high-risk drinkers attempting to quit/cut down in England, indicating that most of the target population is not being reached. Despite overall digital access improving, adoption rates remained similarly low between 2015–2018.
Highlights
IntroductionDigital aids ( referred to in the literature as ‘digital interventions’ or ‘digital health technologies’) can be defined as “a product or service that uses computer technology to promote behaviour change” (West and Michie, 2016)
Digital aids can be defined as “a product or service that uses computer technology to promote behaviour change” (West and Michie, 2016)
A sensitivity analysis was conducted to estimate the proportion of recent ex-smokers who reported that they had used a digital aid in a recent quit attempt
Summary
Digital aids ( referred to in the literature as ‘digital interventions’ or ‘digital health technologies’) can be defined as “a product or service that uses computer technology to promote behaviour change” (West and Michie, 2016). To estimate the potential public health impact of digital aids for smoking cessation and alcohol reduction, researchers need to consider their reach within the target population. Digital smoking cessation and alcohol reduction aids are widely available in England To estimate their public health impact, researchers need to consider their adoption in the target population. Conclusions: Digital smoking cessation and alcohol reduction aids are rarely used by smokers or high-risk drinkers attempting to quit/cut down in England, indicating that most of the target population is not being reached. Despite overall digital access improving, adoption rates remained low between 2015–2018
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