Tobacco Price Increase and Smoking Cessation in Japan, a Developed Country With Affordable Tobacco: A National Population-Based Observational Study

Abstract

BackgroundLongitudinal assessment of the impact of tobacco price on smoking cessation is scarce. Our objective was to investigate the effect of a price increase in October 2010 on cessation rates according to gender, age, socioeconomic status, and level of tobacco dependence in Japan.MethodsWe used longitudinal data linkage of two nationally representative studies and followed 2702 smokers for assessment of their cessation status. The odds ratios (ORs) for cessation were calculated using logistic regression. To estimate the impact of the 2010 tobacco price increase on cessation, data from 2007 were used as a reference category.ResultsOverall cessation rates significantly increased from 2007 to 2010, from 3.7% to 10.7% for men and from 9.9% to 16.3% for women. Cessation rates were 9.3% for men who smoked 1–10 cigarettes per day, 2.7% for men who smoked 11–20 cigarettes per day, and 2.0% for men who smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day in 2007. These rates increased to 15.5%, 10.0%, and 8.0%, respectively, in 2010. The impact was stronger among subjects who smoked more than 11 cigarettes per day than those who smoked 1–10 cigarettes per day in both sexes: ORs for 2010 were 4.04 for those smoking 11–20 cigarettes per day, 4.26 for those smoking more than 20 cigarettes per day, and 1.80 for those smoking 1–10 cigarettes per day in the main model in men. There were no obvious differences in the relationship between tobacco price increase and smoking cessation across age and household expenditure groups.ConclusionsThe tobacco price increase in Japan had a significant impact on smoking cessation in both sexes, especially among heavy smokers, with no clear difference in effect by socio-demographic status.

Tobacco price increase and smoking behaviour changes in various subgroups: a nationwide longitudinal 7-year follow-up study among a middle-aged Japanese population

“…9 10 However, this study did not support this association for cessation, that is, significantly positive AORs for cessation were observed among all income subgroups with no large difference in point estimate. This was in line with a previous study23 and confirmed by an additional result that no significant interaction term between year and income was found in the GEE analyses for cessation. As for relapse, when the tobacco price increased, it was only significantly associated with prevention of relapse in the lowest income subgroup (figure 2).…”

“…We could therefore assume that all study participants were equally affected by the increase. The tobacco price was increased on 1 October 2010, at least 1 month before the survey in November 2010, but there may have been an earlier response due to anticipation effects,22 as also seen in a previous study 23. Another Japanese study has shown that intention to quit among smokers immediately before the tax increase (August–September 2010) was high,24 as 53% and 72% of those who intended to quit were planning this for ‘before’ or ‘on’ the day of the tax increase.…”

The Inverse Equity Hypothesis: Analyses of Institutional Deliveries in 286 National Surveys

“…Studies that supported the hypothesis addressed many different outcomes including breast and cervical cancer screening, 6 blood pressure monitoring, 7 child immunization, 8 dental caries prevention, 9 management of coronary heart disease, 10 HIV/AIDS screening and treatment, 11,12 insecticide-treated nets, 13 and smoking cessation. 14 Of particular interest are articles in which the outcomes were based on attitudes related to the perceived benefits or harms associated with certain interventions, even when these were not evidence-based. For example, the authors of articles on cesarean deliveries without medical indication 15,16 and on refusal to vaccinate children in the United Kingdom 17,18 quoted the inverse equity hypothesis to explain why these behaviors were initially adopted by the better-off within a population.…”

Tobacco tax and price in the developed and developing countries in the World

“…Based on the studied conducted, tobacco tax and price are among the influential factors on the fall of tobacco consumption [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] . An ecologic study was conducted.…”