학술논문

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on smoking (waterpipe and cigarette) and participants' BMI across various sociodemographic groups in Arab countries in the Mediterranean Region
Document Type
article
Source
Tobacco Induced Diseases, Vol 20, Iss November, Pp 1-16 (2022)
Subject
covid-19
cigarette smoking
waterpipe smoking
body mass index
arab countries
Diseases of the respiratory system
RC705-779
Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
RC254-282
Language
English
ISSN
1617-9625
Abstract
Introduction Tobacco smokers are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19. Lockdown was a chosen strategy to deal with the spread of infectious diseases; nonetheless, it influenced people’s eating and smoking behaviors. The main objective of this study is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on smoking (waterpipe and cigarette) behavior and its associations with sociodemographic characteristics and body mass index. Methods The data were derived from a large-scale retrospective cross-sectional study using a validated online international survey from 38 countries (n=37207) conducted between 17 April and 25 June 2020. The Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO-EMR countries) data related to 10 Arabic countries that participated in this survey have been selected for analysis in this study. A total of 12433 participants were included in the analysis of this study, reporting their smoking behavior and their BMI before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between smoking practices and the participant’s country of origin, sociodemographic characteristics, and BMI (kg/m 2 ). Results Overall, the prevalence rate of smoking decreased significantly during the lockdown from 29.8% to 23.5% (p