Guillermo Mañanes1, Miguel A Vallejo2, Laura Vallejo-Slocker3. 1. Faculty of Psychology, National Distance Education University (UNED), Madrid, Spain. 2. Faculty of Psychology, National Distance Education University (UNED), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: mvallejo@psi.uned.es. 3. Faculty of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Campus of Somosaguas, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics of users of a smoking cessation programme run by the Open University of Spain (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia [UNED]). METHODS: We examined the demographic, psychological and smoking characteristics of 23,763 smokers who participated in the on-line smoking cessation program of the UNED. The programme was open to any smoker, free of charge, and was fully automated and with direct access. RESULTS: A total of 93.5% of the users were Spaniards, with an equal percentage of participation among men and women. The mean age was 39 years. Somewhat less than half were married and had a university education. The participants smoked a mean of 19.3 cigarettes per day, showing a mid-range level of nicotine dependence according to the Heaviness of Smoking Index. The results of the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and Perceived Stress Scale were not clinically significant. In a secondary analysis of the data, we found gender differences in all the variables measured. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirm the digital divide, with lower participation among people with a lower educational level. No association was observed between stress, anxiety or depression and cigarette consumption.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics of users of a smoking cessation programme run by the Open University of Spain (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia [UNED]). METHODS: We examined the demographic, psychological and smoking characteristics of 23,763 smokers who participated in the on-line smoking cessation program of the UNED. The programme was open to any smoker, free of charge, and was fully automated and with direct access. RESULTS: A total of 93.5% of the users were Spaniards, with an equal percentage of participation among men and women. The mean age was 39 years. Somewhat less than half were married and had a university education. The participants smoked a mean of 19.3 cigarettes per day, showing a mid-range level of nicotine dependence according to the Heaviness of Smoking Index. The results of the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and Perceived Stress Scale were not clinically significant. In a secondary analysis of the data, we found gender differences in all the variables measured. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirm the digital divide, with lower participation among people with a lower educational level. No association was observed between stress, anxiety or depression and cigarette consumption.
Authors: Alberto Bermejo-Franco; Juan Luis Sánchez-Sánchez; María Isabel Gaviña-Barroso; Beatriz Atienza-Carbonell; Vicent Balanzá-Martínez; Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-01-12 Impact factor: 3.390