Examining how poverty status moderates the association between utilizing in-store tobacco promotional offers and cessation behavior

Introduction: Several studies have shown that adults' smokers who live below the poverty level are less likely to quit smoking. Retail tobacco promotions (such as “dollar” off and“two-packs-for-the-price-of-one”) effectively lower the price of tobacco products which may be particularly appealing to smokers living below the poverty level. Little is known about the role of poverty status in moderating the association between utilizing in-store tobacco promotions and smokers' cessation behavior. Objective: Examined how poverty status moderates the association between using in-store tobacco promotions and smokers' quit attempts. Methods: We utilized 2010 BRFSS data from 37 communities that participated in the CDC's Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative. We defined an indicator outcome for smokers' that made quit attempts, and used the survey module question about smokers' frequent use of in-store tobacco promotions to define a dichotomous indicator that distinguishes smokers who use those promotions every time they see one. We conducted logistic regression analysis to examine the association between the two indicators. The analysis was stratified by poverty status and controlled for individuals' demographics and cigarette state taxes. Results: Among smokers who used in-store tobacco promotions, 41.6% did so every time they saw one. For smokers living below the poverty level, those who used tobacco promotions were less likely to make a quit attempt (OR=0.49, P<0.05), while no such association was found among smokers living above the poverty level. Conclusion: We found evidence that poverty status moderates the association between smokers' use of retail tobacco promotions and smokers' quit attempts.