211836 Global Tobacco Control Diffusion: The Case of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Wednesday, November 11, 2009: 10:48 AM

Thomas W. Valente, PhD , Department of Preventive Medicine- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Alhambra, CA
Heather L. Wipfli, PhD , Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Kayo Fujimoto, PhD , Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Alhambra, CA
Methods: A two-mode dataset was compiled that recorded country participation in the FCTC negotiations, as well as the number of individuals per country per year who joined an online tobacco control network. These two datasets along with geographic location were used to determine whether exposure to FCTC-related information and prior FCTC adoption was associated with a country's likelihood of adoption.

Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that income was the only variable associated with being among the earliest adopters (first 13.0%) (AOR=2.27, 95% CI=1.45, 3.55) or among the early majority (first 40.6%) (AOR=1.47, 95% CI=1.14, 1.90). Network exposure and event history analysis show that in addition to income, likelihood of adoption rose with increasing exposure to FCTC adopters through the online network.

Conclusion: Future public health programs should be accompanied by a plan for creating opportunities for network interaction; otherwise adoption and diffusion will be delayed and return on investments diminished.

Learning Objectives:
To define demographic and social network variables associate with time of ratification of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: PhD Communication
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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