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Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey

Many smokers incorrectly believe that “light” cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes. To address this problem, many countries have banned “light” or “mild” brand descriptors on cigarette packs. Our objective was to assess whether beliefs about “light” cigarettes changed following the 20...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Siahpush, Mohammad, Borland, Ron, Fong, Geoffrey T., Elton-Marshall, Tara, Yong, Hua-Hie, Holumyong, Charamporn
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138019/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21776224
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8062170
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author Siahpush, Mohammad
Borland, Ron
Fong, Geoffrey T.
Elton-Marshall, Tara
Yong, Hua-Hie
Holumyong, Charamporn
author_facet Siahpush, Mohammad
Borland, Ron
Fong, Geoffrey T.
Elton-Marshall, Tara
Yong, Hua-Hie
Holumyong, Charamporn
author_sort Siahpush, Mohammad
collection PubMed
description Many smokers incorrectly believe that “light” cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes. To address this problem, many countries have banned “light” or “mild” brand descriptors on cigarette packs. Our objective was to assess whether beliefs about “light” cigarettes changed following the 2007 removal of these brand descriptors in Thailand and, if a change occurred, the extent to which it differed by socioeconomic status. Data were from waves 2 (2006), 3 (2008), and 4 (2009) of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey of adult smokers in Thailand. The results showed that, following the introduction of the ban, there was an overall decline in the two beliefs that “light” cigarettes are less harmful and smoother than regular cigarettes. The decline in the “less harmful” belief was considerably steeper in lower income and education groups. However, there was no evidence that the rate of decline in the “smoother” belief varied by income or education. Removing the “light” brand descriptor from cigarette packs should thus be viewed not only as a means to address the problem of smokers’ incorrect beliefs about “light” cigarettes, but also as a factor that can potentially reduce socioeconomic disparities in smoking-related misconceptions.
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spelling pubmed-31380192011-07-20 Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey Siahpush, Mohammad Borland, Ron Fong, Geoffrey T. Elton-Marshall, Tara Yong, Hua-Hie Holumyong, Charamporn Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Many smokers incorrectly believe that “light” cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes. To address this problem, many countries have banned “light” or “mild” brand descriptors on cigarette packs. Our objective was to assess whether beliefs about “light” cigarettes changed following the 2007 removal of these brand descriptors in Thailand and, if a change occurred, the extent to which it differed by socioeconomic status. Data were from waves 2 (2006), 3 (2008), and 4 (2009) of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey of adult smokers in Thailand. The results showed that, following the introduction of the ban, there was an overall decline in the two beliefs that “light” cigarettes are less harmful and smoother than regular cigarettes. The decline in the “less harmful” belief was considerably steeper in lower income and education groups. However, there was no evidence that the rate of decline in the “smoother” belief varied by income or education. Removing the “light” brand descriptor from cigarette packs should thus be viewed not only as a means to address the problem of smokers’ incorrect beliefs about “light” cigarettes, but also as a factor that can potentially reduce socioeconomic disparities in smoking-related misconceptions. Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) 2011-06 2011-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC3138019/ /pubmed/21776224 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8062170 Text en © 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Siahpush, Mohammad
Borland, Ron
Fong, Geoffrey T.
Elton-Marshall, Tara
Yong, Hua-Hie
Holumyong, Charamporn
Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey
title Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey
title_full Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey
title_fullStr Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey
title_full_unstemmed Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey
title_short Socioeconomic Differences in the Effectiveness of the Removal of the “Light” Descriptor on Cigarette Packs: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Thailand Survey
title_sort socioeconomic differences in the effectiveness of the removal of the “light” descriptor on cigarette packs: findings from the international tobacco control (itc) thailand survey
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138019/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21776224
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8062170
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