Patterns of cigarette, e-cigarette, heated tobacco, and alcohol use in solid organ transplant recipients, a pre- versus post-transplant comparison: Survey results from a transplantation center in Poland

Abstract

Introduction: Smoking and alcohol consumption are two harmful yet socially accepted habits in Poland. The main focus of this study was to assess patterns of tobacco and alcohol consumption in Polish transplant patients.

Methods: A survey was conducted between June and November 2023 at a transplantation center in Poland. The participants in the study were kidney, liver, or pancreas transplant recipients (aged 19-81 years). A structured questionnaire was applied to assess self-reported use of tobacco and alcohol in the pre-transplantation (pre-tx) and post-transplantation (post-tx) periods.

Results: Data from 215 eligible transplant recipients were analyzed. The median age was 51 years (IQR: 38.5-60.5), and 56.7% of the patients were male. Most patients (79.1%) received a kidney transplant, 20.5% a liver transplant, and 5.6% a pancreas transplant. In this cohort, tobacco use decreased by 33.7% and alcohol use decreased by 40.5% post-tx compared to pre-tx. Regarding cigarette smoking, 92% of post-tx patients did not smoke at all (vs 81.1% pre-tx). The use of e-cigarettes or heated tobacco remained relatively unchanged, with abstinence declared by 91.5% pre-tx versus 93.9% post-tx (p=0.351). When asked about alcohol consumption within the last year, 67.6% of respondents indicated that they did not consume alcohol at all (vs 50.2% pre-tx), and 26.3% had occasionally consumed alcohol (vs 40% pre-tx). More than half of the participants reported no change in their tobacco and alcohol consumption patterns (65.4% and 57.1%, respectively).

Conclusions: The results of our study indicated a decrease in the use of traditional tobacco products and alcohol following transplantation. However, the use of e-cigarettes or heated tobacco remains stable and should be further examined. Therefore, it is important to develop targeted interventions to support tobacco and alcohol cessation among transplant patients.

Keywords: alcohol; cigarettes; novel tobacco products; post-transplant behavior; survey; transplantation.

Figure 1

Self-assessment of the impact of transplantation on different substance use