Advanced Readiness to Quit Smoking Among People Living With HIV Enrolled in a Smoking Cessation Trial in Hanoi, Vietnam: Associations With Risk Perception, Self-Efficacy, and Social Norms
Thanh Ha-Lan Hoang, Gloria Guevara Alvarez, Nam Nguyen, Louise Adermark, Qinyun LinBackground
In Vietnam, smoking remains highly prevalent among people living with HIV (PLWH), posing significant health risks. As PLWH receiving HIV care represent a selected population that may differ from the general smoking population, evidence on the psychosocial factors shaping readiness to quit in this group remains limited. This study examines the associations between tobacco-related risk perception, self-efficacy, and social norms with advanced readiness to quit among PLWH who smoke and were enrolled in a smoking cessation trial in Vietnam.
Methods
We conducted a secondary cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the VQUIT randomized controlled trial, including 672 PLWH who currently smoked cigarettes some days or every day, recruited from 13 HIV outpatient clinics in Hanoi, Vietnam. Advanced readiness to quit was defined as currently trying to quit or planning to quit within 30 days; all other responses were classified as lower or no readiness. Multivariable logistic regression models with robust standard errors, clustered at the clinic level, were fitted to examine associations between risk perception, self-efficacy, four social norm constructs, and advanced readiness to quit.
Results
Overall, 76.6% of participants reported advanced readiness to quit. Higher risk perception was consistently associated with increased odds of advanced readiness to quit (aORs ranged 1.10 to 1.13 across models). Injunctive norms (aOR=1.11, 95% CI: 1.03–1.20) and internalized norms (aOR=1.40, 95% CI: 1.02–1.94) were positively associated with advanced readiness to quit, while descriptive and subjective norms were not. Self-efficacy showed no significant association.
Conclusion
Among PLWH enrolled in a smoking cessation trial in Vietnam, higher risk perception and stronger injunctive and internalized norms were associated with advanced readiness to quit. Cessation interventions integrated into HIV care may benefit from addressing both perceived smoking-related risks and norm-based motivations to quit.