Sheng Zhi Zhao
Ms. Sheng Zhi Zhao is a Ph.D. student at the School of Nursing of the University of Hong Kong. She received her nursing degree and M.P.H. from the Peking Union Medical College and the University of Hong Kong, respectively. She has started her Ph.D. study since 2017.
Ms. Zhao is an investigator of smoking cessation randomized controlled trial using chat-based mHealth support for quitting among community smokers in Hong Kong. She was interested in health promotion and mobile phone health research and experienced in the smoking cessation for community and hospitalized smokers.
She also conducted population-based cross-sectional studies on the emerging infectious disease (COVID-19) and mental health responses. She has published papers for the research fields.
Ms. Zhao intends to work on using information communication technologies for changing addictive behaviors (e.g. delivering smoking cessation intervention remotely through mobile phone-based model).
Decreasing motivation to quit in Hong Kong community smokers: A secondary analysis of Quit-to-Win smoking cessation trials (2009-2018)
Aim
To investigate the trends of intention, attempts and self-efficacy on quitting (i.e., motivation to quit) of participants in the Quit-to-Win (QTW) Contests (an annual smoke-free community campaign) during 2009-2018. Methods QTW participants (N=9837) were actively recruited daily smokers aged 18 or above from community settings (18.5% female, 44.1% aged 18-39 years). Baseline questionnaires collected information on intention to quit, quit attempts (yes/no) and perceived importance and confidence on quitting, nicotine dependence (Heaviness of Smoking Index, range 0-6) and sociodemographic. All data were weighted to the sex-age distribution of participants in 2009. We used multivariable ordinal logistic and linear regressions to analyse motivation to quit by study years, adjusted for sociodemographic and nicotine dependence.
Results
Prevalence of high nicotine dependence (score >4) was decreasing (odds ratio per year 0.97, 95%CI 0.96-0.99). Proportion of participants intended to quit in 7 days decreased from 66.4% in 2009 to 20.2% in 2018 (P<0.001). The increase of no intention to quit was associated with study year (adjusted ß 0.15, 95%CI 0.14, 0.17). Prevalence of past year and lifetime quit attempt decreased from 25.5% and 71.0% (2009) to 19.6% and 61.8% (2018) (both Ps<0.001). Perceived importance and confidence on quitting decreased from 7.9 ± 2.3 (standard deviation) and 6.2 ± 2.6 to 6.6 ± 2.5 and 5.3 ± 2.4, respectively (both Ps<0.001).
Conclusions
Participants have become less motivated to quit. Smoking cessation interventions need to be modified to support quitting as the proportion of hard-core smokers appears increasing, even when nicotine dependence appears decreasing.
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