199270 How much do high school students decide the cigarette price to prevent smoking in Japan?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Hideyuki Kanda, MD, MPH, PhD , Department of Hygiene & Preventive Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima city, Japan
Yoneatsu Osaki, MD, PhD , Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Japan
Takashi Ohida, MD, PhD , Public health, Nihon University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Takeo Tanihata, MD, PhD , Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health, Wako, Japan
Yoshitaka Kaneita, MD, PhD , Public health, Nihon University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Masumi Minowa, MD, PhD , Department of Human Life and Culture, Seitoku University, Matsudo, Japan
Kenji Suzuki, MD, PhD , Suzuki Mental Clinic, Hayama, Japan
OBJECTIVES: Most of the prices of 20 cigarettes in one box are around 3.00 US dollars in Japan. The current study was clarified the cigarette prices which high school students thought to prevent smoking and teen smokers gave up smoking.

METHOD: This study was based on a cross-sectional self-reported anonymous national-wide data from 168 high schools in the 2007 National Smoking Survey among Japanese high school students. Of the 90,361 students who sent back the questionnaires, 90,039 students were eligible to analyze in this study, except 322 students didn't have the complete data needed for the analysis.

RESULTS: The prices that adolescents thought to prevent smoking were over 10.00 US dollars among 60% of students in each boys and girls. The most of students thought the cigarette prices to quit smoking in teen smokers were around 15.00 US dollars despite of current smokers or not.

CONCLUSIONS: We found that high school students thought the cigarette price over 10.00 US dollars to prevent smoking, around 15.00 US dollars to quit smoking. Compared with US, the price of cigarette box is cheaper in Japan. The low cigarette price may lead Japanese adolescents to access smoking more easily. The raise of the cigarette price is necessary to prevent and quit smoking among high school students.

Learning Objectives:
Clarified the cigarette prices which high school students thought to prevent smoking and teen smokers gave up smoking

Keywords: Tobacco Control, Tobacco Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have already gotten MPH and PhD. And I'm a faculty of Department of hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Fukushima Medical University.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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