Impact of graphic pack warnings on adult smokers' quitting activities: findings from the ITC Southeast Asia Survey (2005-2014)
journal contribution
posted on 2024-09-04, 06:24 authored by L Li, AI Fathelrahman, Ron BorlandRon Borland, M Omar, GT Fong, ACK Quah, B Sirirassamee, Hua YongHua YongCopyright © The Author(s) 2016. Malaysia introduced graphic health warning labels (GHWLs) on all tobacco packages in 2009. We aimed to examine if implementing GHWLs led to stronger warning reactions (e.g., thinking about the health risks of smoking) and an increase in subsequent quitting activities; and to examine how reactions changed over time since the implementation of the GHWLs in Malaysia and Thailand where GHWL size increased from 50-55% in 2010. Data came from six waves (2005-2014) of the International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia Survey. Between 3,706 and 4,422 smokers were interviewed across these two countries at each survey wave. Measures included salience of warnings, cognitive responses (i.e., thinking about the health risks and being more likely to quit smoking), forgoing cigarettes, and avoiding warnings. The main outcome was subsequent quit attempts. Following the implementation of GHWLs in Malaysia, reactions increased, in some cases to levels similar to the larger Thai warnings, but declined over time. In Thailand, reactions increased following implementation, with no decline for several years, and no clear effect of the small increase in warning size. Reactions, mainly cognitive responses, were consistently predictive of quit attempts in Thailand, but this was only consistently so in Malaysia after the change to GHWLs. In conclusion, GHWLs are responded to more frequently, and generate more quit attempts, but warning wear-out is not consistent in these two countries, perhaps due to differences in other tobacco control efforts.
History
Journal
Journal of smoking cessationVolume
11Pagination
124-134Location
Cambridge, Eng.Open access
- Yes
ISSN
1834-2612eISSN
1834-2612Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2016, The AuthorsIssue
2Publisher
Cambridge University PressUsage metrics
Categories
Keywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorksRefWorks
BibTeXBibTeX
Ref. managerRef. manager
EndnoteEndnote
DataCiteDataCite
NLMNLM
DCDC