TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of alcohol use on smoking cessation
T2 - A systematic review
AU - van Amsterdam, Jan
AU - van den Brink, Wim
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/6/1
Y1 - 2023/6/1
N2 - Only a small minority of all attempts to stop smoking are successful, especially among smokers who are heavy drinkers and those with an alcohol use disorder. The current systematic review focuses on the negative effects of alcohol use, either before or during attempts to quit smoking, on the success rate of these attempt(s) in alcohol-drinking tobacco smokers. We conducted a systematic review of naturalistic and experimental studies, which included at least 40 tobacco smokers with a recorded drinking status (non-drinking, heavy drinking, alcohol use disorder) and a clearly documented change in alcohol consumption. We could not conduct a meta-analysis and, thus, used consistency across studies to draw conclusions. The evidence presented here shows that alcohol use is associated with lower rates of success in quitting smoking in 20 out of 27 studies. This includes both lapses and relapses. Similarly, in 19 out of 20 long-term follow-up studies, the duration of smoking abstinence was shorter among persons with higher alcohol consumption. Finally, 12 out of 13 experimental studies showed that exposure of smokers to alcohol cues or to drinking of alcohol induce a strong propensity to smoke. It is, therefore, recommended for smokers who drink alcohol and who intend to quit smoking to use an integrated approach, i.e., to stop or substantially reduce their alcohol consumption before and/or during their attempt to quit smoking.
AB - Only a small minority of all attempts to stop smoking are successful, especially among smokers who are heavy drinkers and those with an alcohol use disorder. The current systematic review focuses on the negative effects of alcohol use, either before or during attempts to quit smoking, on the success rate of these attempt(s) in alcohol-drinking tobacco smokers. We conducted a systematic review of naturalistic and experimental studies, which included at least 40 tobacco smokers with a recorded drinking status (non-drinking, heavy drinking, alcohol use disorder) and a clearly documented change in alcohol consumption. We could not conduct a meta-analysis and, thus, used consistency across studies to draw conclusions. The evidence presented here shows that alcohol use is associated with lower rates of success in quitting smoking in 20 out of 27 studies. This includes both lapses and relapses. Similarly, in 19 out of 20 long-term follow-up studies, the duration of smoking abstinence was shorter among persons with higher alcohol consumption. Finally, 12 out of 13 experimental studies showed that exposure of smokers to alcohol cues or to drinking of alcohol induce a strong propensity to smoke. It is, therefore, recommended for smokers who drink alcohol and who intend to quit smoking to use an integrated approach, i.e., to stop or substantially reduce their alcohol consumption before and/or during their attempt to quit smoking.
KW - alcohol
KW - lapse
KW - quit smoking
KW - relapse
KW - smoking cessation
KW - tobacco smoking
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150377934&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2022.12.003
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2022.12.003
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36690220
SN - 0741-8329
VL - 109
SP - 13
EP - 22
JO - Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.)
JF - Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.)
ER -