Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Promoting cessation resources through cigarette package warning labels: a longitudinal survey with adult smokers in Canada, Australia and Mexico
  1. James F Thrasher1,2,
  2. Amira Osman1,
  3. Crawford Moodie3,
  4. David Hammond4,
  5. Maansi Bansal-Travers5,
  6. K Michael Cummings6,
  7. Ron Borland7,
  8. Hua-Hie Yong7,
  9. James Hardin1
  1. 1University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
  2. 2National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico
  3. 3University of Stirling, Scotland, UK
  4. 4University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
  5. 5Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA
  6. 6Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA
  7. 7Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr James F Thrasher, Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Room 354D, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; thrasher{at}mailbox.sc.edu

Abstract

Introduction Health warning labels (HWLs) on tobacco packaging can be used to provide smoking cessation information, but the impact of this information is not well understood.

Methods Online consumer panels of adult smokers from Canada, Australia and Mexico were surveyed in September 2012, January 2013 and May 2013; replenishment was used to maintain sample sizes of 1000 participants in each country at each wave. Country-stratified logistic Generalised Estimating Equation (GEE) models were estimated to assess correlates of citing HWLs as a source of information on quitlines and cessation websites. GEE models also regressed having called the quitline, and having visited a cessation website, on awareness of these resources because of HWLs.

Results At baseline, citing HWLs as a source of information about quitlines was highest in Canada, followed by Australia and Mexico (33%, 19% and 16%, respectively). Significant increases over time were only evident in Australia and Mexico. In all countries, citing HWLs as a source of quitline information was significantly associated with self-report of having called a quitline. At baseline, citing HWLs as a source of information about cessation websites was higher in Canada than in Australia (14% and 6%, respectively; Mexico was excluded because HWLs do not include website information), but no significant changes over time were found for either country. Citing HWLs as a source of information about cessation websites was significantly associated with having visited a website in both Canada and Australia.

Conclusions HWLs are an important source of cessation information.

  • Harm Reduction
  • Packaging and Labelling
  • Cessation
  • Public policy

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.