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# Quit rates halved in Hong Kong cessation services after COVID restrictions began
- URL: https://www.coios.me/quit-rates-halved-in-hong-kong-cessation-services-after/
- Published: 2026-09-20T09:37:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-20T09:37:56.000Z
- Description: Among 1762 adults using community smoking cessation services in Hong Kong, biochemically validated six-month abstinence fell from 12.3% before the January 2020 emergency response escalation to 6.8% after it, a risk ratio of 0.55.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Behavioural science, Smoking and vaping, What changes behaviour at scale, Hong Kong, #peer-reviewed, #new, #item, #source-2026-09

Two randomised cessation trials run in Hong Kong community services between 2018 and 2021, one individually randomised and one cluster randomised, were reanalysed before and after the COVID-19 emergency response level was raised on 25 January 2020\. Six-month biochemically validated abstinence fell from 12.3% to 6.8% (RR 0.55, 0.40 to 0.76), and self-reported seven-day abstinence was lower at both three and six months. Cut-offs at 8 February and 28 March gave consistent reductions, though the comparison is before and after a date rather than between randomised arms.

*Why it is interesting: It puts a figure on how far a service-delivered quit rate fell when in-person support and pharmacotherapy were disrupted.*

Source

[Tobacco Control, 18 September 2026](https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2025-059954?ref=coios.me)

DOI

10.1136/tc-2025-059954

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Secondary before-after analysis of two randomised cessation trials, n=1762, Hong Kong 2018-2021

Verdict

New finding

Driver

[Smoking and vaping](https://www.coios.me/d-smoking-vaping/)

Driver

[What changes behaviour at scale](https://www.coios.me/d-behaviour-change/)