Changes in the proportion of current smokers who spontaneously recalled each of illnesses featured in the Series A and Series B pack warnings between 2005 and 2006
| Smoking-related illness | Inclusion in previous text warnings | Pictorial pack warning launch date | Mass media campaign launch date | Level of spontaneous recall | Change in level of spontaneous recall | |||
| Nov/Dec 2005 (n=587) (%) | Nov/Dec 2006 (n=583) (%) | % Point changes | Adjusted OR* 95% CI | p Value | ||||
| Series A warnings | ||||||||
| Emphysema | No | 1 Mar 2006 | 26 February 2006 | 34.8 | 42.9 | 8.1 | 1.47 (1.12 to 1.96) | 0.006 |
| Gangrene | No | 1 Mar 2006 | 7 May 2006 | 0.5 | 11.7 | 11.2 | 23.47 (6.49 to 84.93) | 0.000 |
| Mouth/oral cancer | No | 1 Mar 2006 | 23 July 2006† | 5.2 | 11.8 | 6.6 | 2.00 (1.22 to 3.27) | 0.006 |
| Throat cancer | No | 1 Mar 2006 | None† | 14.9 | 10.6 | −4.3 | 0.75 (0.50 to 1.14) | 0.176 |
| Series B warnings | ||||||||
| Lung cancer | Yes | 1 Nov 2006 | None | 54.3 | 41.4 | −12.9 | 0.57 (0.44 to 0.75) | 0.000 |
| Heart disease/attack | Yes | 1 Nov 2006 | None | 34.3 | 29.6 | −4.7 | 0.89 (0.67 to 1.19) | 0.433 |
| Stroke/vascular disease | No | 1 Nov 2006 | None | 8.6 | 7.6 | −1.0 | 0.88 (0.55 to 1.42) | 0.594 |
| Eye problems | No | 1 Nov 2006 | None | 7.1 | 3.2 | −3.9 | 0.38 (0.21 to 0.68) | 0.001 |
| Pregnancy complications | Yes | 1 Nov 2006 | None | 0.5 | 0.3 | −0.2 | 0.64 (0.07 to 6.22) | 0.700 |
↵* In each logistic regression model, 2005 served as the reference value.
↵† The ‘Smoking causes mouth and throat cancer’ pack warning also appeared in an information television advertisement that was aired in February and March 2006, which notified the public that images of the health effects of smoking, such as mouth cancer, would soon begin appearing on cigarette packets.
Note. All logistic regression models adjusted for the covariates: education level; socioeconomic status; daily, weekly or less than weekly smoking; daily cigarette consumption; and stage-of-change. In additional analyses, all models were replicated limiting the sample to daily smokers only. However, as these restricted models were not substantially different, we have presented the results for all current smokers.