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Is providing knowledge about tobacco-relatedhealth hazards effective in comparisonto other tobacco control measures?Findings from UkraineT. Andreeva,MD, PhD, School of Public Health, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla AcademyYa. Gerashchenko,MPH, Graduate of the School of Public Health, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla AcademyAbstract: Background: Awareness campaigns are considered to be among effective means in addressingtobacco use, though less effective than tax/price increases, smoke-free policies, andadvertising ban measures. We aimed to estimate whether a higher knowledge about tobaccorelatedharm was associated with the intention to quit smoking in Ukraine at a baseline levelin 2005, when no tobacco control legislation was yet adopted.M ethods: The data from a cross-sectional survey of the Ukrainian population aged 15 andover, conducted in June 2005, was used. Of 2,239 collected questionnaires a sub-sample of 787smokerswas analyzed.O utcome measure was the expressed willingness to quit smoking. The determinants werestatementsregarding tobacco-related knowledge or wide spread myths. SPSS 15.0 was usedfor the binary logistic regression analysis.R esults: The level of knowledge was higher in more educated respondents, women, and inthose living in the Eastern region of Ukraine. The willingness to quit was higher in youngerage groups, men, those married, people with a low level of material welfare, and in occasionalsmokers. Respondents willing to quit gave more correct knowledge answers; however, thosewere mostly about linking smoking to particular diseases, while pure knowledge was notassociated with the intent to quit.C onclusions: Many smoking-and-health statements in smokers are rather proxies for willingnessto quit than real determinants of the intention to quit. Implications: smoking-andhealthinformation campaigns are not a cost-effective tobacco control measure in a countrywith limited resources.Keywords: tobacco, Ukraine, awareness, intention to quit smoking, willingness to quit. |
