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Review
. 2023 Mar;45(2):117-123.
doi: 10.1177/02537176221144711. Epub 2023 Jan 27.

A Review of Intervention Strategies for Areca Nut Use Cessation

Kriti Dhingra  1 , Sonali Jhanjee  2
Affiliations
Review

A Review of Intervention Strategies for Areca Nut Use Cessation

Kriti Dhingra et al. Indian J Psychol Med. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Areca nut (AN) is one of the world's most widely used drugs, especially in Asia-Pacific, causing dependence and multiple adverse health impacts. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified it as a type-1 carcinogen. Despite evidence of harms, its use is culturally ingrained in many regions worldwide; harm perception is low; and the availability of intervention strategies is limited.

Methods: To identify the range and efficacy of interventional studies on AN use cessation, a narrative review of studies published between 1990 and 2021 was undertaken using selected electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, and Scopus).

Results: Three types of interventions were identified: educational, psychological, and pharmacological. Overall, educational interventions significantly enhanced knowledge regarding harms related to AN use. Some psychological interventions reported enhancement of motivation to quit as well as helped in reduction/cessation of AN use. Two pharmacological studies on psychiatric patients with depressive disorders and AN use found that antidepressants helped in reducing/cessation of AN use.

Conclusion: Overall, the number of interventional studies on AN cessation is limited, and most studies have measured the short-term effects of the intervention. The role of pharmacotherapeutic interventions needs to be evaluated for AN cessation, and evidence-based psychosocial interventions need to be developed for AN cessation. Furthermore, longitudinal research using adequate sample sizes and longer follow-up durations are needed to establish interventions in this important area.

Keywords: Areca nut; Betel nut; Betel quid; Cessation; Intervention.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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