Outcomes of a telemedicine smoking cessation programme for heated tobacco product users in Japan: a retrospective cohort study

Akihiro Nomura; Takaaki Ikeda; Toshiki Fujimoto; Yusaku Morita; Chie Taniguchi; Tetsuro Ishizawa; Takahiro Tabuchi

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063489

Outcomes of a telemedicine smoking cessation programme for heated tobacco product users in Japan: a retrospective cohort study

BMJ Open. 2022 Dec 20;12(12):e063489. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063489.

Authors

Akihiro Nomura^{1

2

3}, Takaaki Ikeda^{4

5}, Toshiki Fujimoto⁶, Yusaku Morita⁶, Chie Taniguchi⁷, Tetsuro Ishizawa^{8

9}, Takahiro Tabuchi^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ College of Transdisciplinary Sciences for Innovation, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
² Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa, Japan.
³ Department of Biomedical Informatics, CureApp Institute, Karuizawa, Japan.
⁴ Department of Health Policy Science, Graduate School of Medical Science, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan.
⁵ Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Japan.
⁶ Department of Health Development, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁷ College of Nursing, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Aichi, Japan.
⁸ Department of Stress Science and Psychosomatic Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁹ Linkage, Inc, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁰ Cancer Control Center, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka, Japan tabuti-ta@mc.pref.osaka.jp.
¹¹ The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Objectives: Japan is one of the largest markets for heated tobacco products (HTPs), and the number of HTP users, including dual users, is growing. However, it is not yet clear whether a telemedicine smoking cessation programme is effective for nicotine-dependent HTP users to quit smoking. We assessed the outcomes of a telemedicine smoking cessation programme in terms of continuous smoking cessation among smokers who had used HTPs compared with those who used exclusively cigarettes.

Design: A retrospective cohort study to assess the outcomes of the telemedicine smoking cessation programme provided by Linkage, Japan, comparing the success rates of smoking cessation between exclusively cigarette group (as reference) and HTP user groups (exclusively HTPs or dual use of both cigarettes and HTPs).

Setting: Linkage telemedicine smoking cessation programme database, covering programme participants in Japan.

Participants: Programme participants from between August 2018 and October 2020.

Outcome measures: Continuous abstinence rates (CARs) from 9 to 24 weeks (CAR9-24) and 9 to 52 weeks (CAR9-52). Adjusted ORs (aORs) with 95% CIs for CAR were calculated to compare the exclusively cigarette group with exclusively HTP and dual use groups.

Results: We analysed 733 telemedicine smoking cessation programme participants. Exclusively HTP users had higher CARs than the exclusively cigarette group for CAR9-24 (aOR 1.12, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.23; p=0.02) and CAR9-52 (1.09, 0.99 to 1.19; p=0.08). Conversely, dual users had lower CARs than the exclusively cigarette group for CAR9-24 (0.85, 0.76 to 0.95; p=0.004) and CAR9-52 (0.88, 0.79 to 0.97; p=0.01).

Conclusions: Exclusive HTP users achieved higher CARs, whereas dual users had lower CARs than exclusively cigarette users over short-term and long-term periods. A telemedicine smoking cessation programme may be a reasonable option for exclusive HTP users.

Keywords: respiratory medicine (see thoracic medicine); telemedicine; toxicology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems*
Humans
Japan
Nicotiana
Retrospective Studies
Smoking Cessation*
Telemedicine*
Tobacco Products*