Since the beginning of November, the national No Tobacco Month campaign has offered smokers the opportunity to take stock of their consumption. But what about people with intellectual disabilities?
The weekly epidemiological bulletin (BEH) has just published a study carried out in Hauts-de-France on the situation of smokers with intellectual disabilities (HI) and their intention to quit as part of the Tobacco Free Month operation.
As the authors point out in the preamble: “We know very little about the addictive practices of people with intellectual disabilities, even though they are also users of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis or may have other addictions, behavioral or without a product.” According to the results of the study, anti-smoking prevention messages go down poorly among them.
State of consumption of smokers with HI
The BEH reveals that 23.5% of those questioned say they smoke, including 19.6% daily, and that 8.6% vape (including 4.9% daily). These figures are close to those of the general population but slightly lower (difference of seven points) compared to those of people with no or low qualifications; and the prevalence of vaping is also similar to that of the general population. Overall, 18.2% smoke and vape simultaneously.
Among daily smokers, the average consumption is 12.4 cigarettes per day (identical to the general population) and among vapers, 55.7% declare that their e-liquid contains nicotine.
More men than women use tobacco products (22.9% versus 14.5% for tobacco and 10.5% versus 5.6% for vaping) and also smoke more (13.6 cigarettes per day on average compared to 9.5). Those aged 41-55 have the highest tobacco consumption, while the 15-25 and 26-40 age groups vape the most.
Little concerned with No Tobacco Month
Although 42.6% of smokers express the wish to quit smoking, only 20.7% of vapers wish to quit vaping. Do they know about the Tobacco Free Month operation? 45% of respondents say they have heard of it via television. However, among the 112 people questioned about their intention to quit smoking, only one had gone online, and only four had attempted quitting.
Although awareness of this campaign seems relatively high, the authors note that these people “do not seem to be affected by prevention campaigns aimed at the general population”.
“More inclusive prevention campaigns”
According to the authors of the study, these results call for “greater inclusiveness of the populations concerned in these prevention programs”, involvement in the imagery of the campaigns and “increased intelligibility of the latter”. It would be relevant to carry out “increased reflection on the intelligibility and understanding of tools for prevention and reduction of the risks of smoking by the people concerned”.
In summary, it seems crucial to develop prevention campaigns specifically targeted for this audience.
Please note: The BEH survey was carried out between September 2022 and April 2023 among 1,030 people with intellectual disabilities living in the Hauts-de-France region, via an easy to read and understand translation (Falc) of the items dealing with tobacco and vaping from the French Public Health Barometer questionnaire.
