TY - JOUR
T1 - Incidence and correlates of receiving cigarettes as gifts and selecting preferred brand because it was gifted
T2 - Findings from the ITC China Survey
AU - Huang, Li Ling
AU - Thrasher, James F.
AU - Jiang, Yuan
AU - Li, Qiang
AU - Fong, Geoffrey T.
AU - Quah, Anne Ck
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the local CDC staff, other groups, and individuals who assisted in the conduct of the study. The ITC China Project was supported by grants from the US National Cancer Institute (R01 CA125116, P50 CA 111236, and P01 CA138389), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (79551 and 115016), Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and also by an Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Senior Investigator Award, and a Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute Prevention Scientist Award. The funding sources had no role in the study design, in collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
PY - 2012/11/20
Y1 - 2012/11/20
N2 - Background: Giving cigarettes as gifts is a common practice in China, but there have been few systematic studies of this practice. The present study was designed to estimate the incidence of receiving cigarettes as gifts, correlates of this practice, and its impact on brand selection in a representative sample of urban adult smokers in China. Methods. Data were analyzed from Wave 2 of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey, where 4843 adult urban smokers were interviewed in six major Chinese cities between October 2007 and January 2008. The incidence of most recent cigarette acquisition due to gifting and the prevalence of preferred brand selection due to having received it as a gift were estimated. Bivariate and adjusted logistic regression models were estimated to identify factors associated with these two outcomes. Results: The incidence of receiving cigarettes as a gift at most recent cigarette acquisition was 3.5%. Smokers who received these gifted cigarettes were more likely to be female, older, have higher educational attainment, live in Beijing, and smoke fewer cigarettes per day. The prevalence of choosing one's preferred brand due to having received it as a gift was 7.0%, and this was more likely among smokers who lived in Beijing and Guangzhou, had lower educational attainment, smoked less frequently, and had smoked their preferred brand for less than one year. Conclusions: The 3.5% incidence of one's most recent cigarette acquisition due to gifting is consistent with prevalence estimates based on longer reference periods and translates into the average smoker receiving a gift of cigarettes approximately five times a year. Gifting also appears to have a significant influence on brand preference. Tobacco control interventions in China may need to denormalize the practice of giving cigarettes as gifts in order to decrease the social acceptability of smoking.
AB - Background: Giving cigarettes as gifts is a common practice in China, but there have been few systematic studies of this practice. The present study was designed to estimate the incidence of receiving cigarettes as gifts, correlates of this practice, and its impact on brand selection in a representative sample of urban adult smokers in China. Methods. Data were analyzed from Wave 2 of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey, where 4843 adult urban smokers were interviewed in six major Chinese cities between October 2007 and January 2008. The incidence of most recent cigarette acquisition due to gifting and the prevalence of preferred brand selection due to having received it as a gift were estimated. Bivariate and adjusted logistic regression models were estimated to identify factors associated with these two outcomes. Results: The incidence of receiving cigarettes as a gift at most recent cigarette acquisition was 3.5%. Smokers who received these gifted cigarettes were more likely to be female, older, have higher educational attainment, live in Beijing, and smoke fewer cigarettes per day. The prevalence of choosing one's preferred brand due to having received it as a gift was 7.0%, and this was more likely among smokers who lived in Beijing and Guangzhou, had lower educational attainment, smoked less frequently, and had smoked their preferred brand for less than one year. Conclusions: The 3.5% incidence of one's most recent cigarette acquisition due to gifting is consistent with prevalence estimates based on longer reference periods and translates into the average smoker receiving a gift of cigarettes approximately five times a year. Gifting also appears to have a significant influence on brand preference. Tobacco control interventions in China may need to denormalize the practice of giving cigarettes as gifts in order to decrease the social acceptability of smoking.
KW - Cigarette gifting
KW - Preferred cigarette brand
KW - Tobacco
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U2 - 10.1186/1471-2458-12-996
DO - 10.1186/1471-2458-12-996
M3 - Article
C2 - 23157697
AN - SCOPUS:84869066047
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 12
JO - BMC Public Health
JF - BMC Public Health
IS - 1
M1 - 996
ER -
