Changes in prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of tobacco and nicotine use in Finland during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on tobacco and nicotine use remains debated. We examined whether the prevalence of tobacco and nicotine use and nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether changes differed by sociodemographic groups. Methods: Repeated cross-sectional study of three national surveys in Finland (2018, 2019 and 2020; n 58 526 adults aged 20 and over). Outcomes were daily and occasional smoking, smokeless tobacco (snus) use, e-cigarettes use, total tobacco or nicotine use and NRT use. We examined changes for each outcome by sex, age, educational tertiles, marital status, mother tongue and social participation. Results: Daily smoking decreased among males by 1.15 percentage points (pp) [95% confidence interval (CI) _2.10 to _0.20] between 2018 and 2020 and 0.86 pp among females (95% CI _1.58 to _0.15). Daily snus use remained stable in both sexes. Daily ecigarette use was below 1% and remained stable. We found weak evidence of a reduction in total tobacco or nicotine use between 2018 and 2020 (males _1.18 pp, 95% CI _2.68 to 0.32 and females _0.8 pp, 95% CI _1.81 to 0.22). NRT use remained stable. Snus and NRT use decreased among 60- to 74-year-olds but remained stable in other age groups. We did not find evidence of interactions by subgroup for other outcomes. Conclusions: Daily smoking decreased in Finland between 2018 and 2020, but other forms of tobacco use did not experience a reduction. The COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to have altered the sustained reduction of smoking in Finland, although substantial sociodemographic differences persist.