Prevalence and characteristics of co-occurrence of smoking and increasing-and-higher-risk drinking: A population survey in England

Claire Garnett*, Melissa Oldham, Leonie Brose, Hazel Cheeseman, Sharon Cox

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Smoking and drinking alcohol both significantly contribute to mortality and morbidity, and there is a need to characterise the sociodemographic and health-related characteristics (e.g. mental distress) of people who do both in order to target resources. This study reports the prevalence and characteristics of adults in the general population in England who both drink alcohol at increasing-and-higher-risk levels and smoke.

METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from a monthly, nationally representative survey of adults in England (n = 37,258; April 2020-March 2022). Weighted data were used to report prevalence and unweighted data were used to report descriptive statistics for sociodemographic and health-related characteristics.

RESULTS: The prevalence of both smoking and increasing-and-higher-risk drinking was 4.6% (95% CI = 4.4-4.9; n = 1,574). They smoked a mean of 10.4 (SD = 8.86) cigarettes per day and had a mean AUDIT score of 12.8 (SD = 5.18). Nearly half (48.2%, n = 751) were trying to cut down on their smoking and 28.0% (n = 441) on their drinking. A quarter (25.3%, n = 397) had received General Practitioner advice on smoking while 8.7% (n = 76) had received advice on their drinking. Nearly half (48.6%, n = 745) reported experiencing psychological distress in the past month and 44.6% (n = 529) had a diagnosed mental health condition, both of which were higher than among all adults (28.1% and 29.1%, respectively).

CONCLUSION: In England, from April 2020 to March 2022, the prevalence of both smoking and increasing-and-higher-risk drinking was 4.6%. This group appears to experience high rates of mental health problems and targeted support is needed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number107928
Pages (from-to)107928
Number of pages1
JournalAddictive Behaviors
Volume150
Early online date28 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2024

Keywords

  • Adult
  • Humans
  • Prevalence
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Smoking/epidemiology
  • Tobacco Smoking/epidemiology
  • England/epidemiology
  • Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology

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