Smoking and health; tobacco use and anti-smoking campaigns in Jamaica

ABSTRACT

Lifestyle-related diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems continue to be major causes of morbidity and mortality in Jamaica. The aims of the study were to obtain data on a) Knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and use of tobacco products particularly cigarettes; b) The impact of the Medical Association of Jamaica/Pan American Health Organization media campaign against tobacco use. The Methodology: An islandwide sample of 628 persons, comprising 364 males and 264 females, and ranging in age from under 24, to over 70 years, was interviewed, using a modified World Health Organization (WHO) Comprehensive Tobacco Survey instrument with 12 additional questions relating to the media campaign. The sample was obtained via a two-stage systemic sampling system. Data processing was done at the UWI Computing Centre. Results: Lifetime prevalence of use was 54 percent (N=339). Current daily use was 27.7 percent (N=174). Concerning health effects, 80.5 percent (N=441) strongly agreed that smoking was harmful to health. 78 percent of persons had concerns about passive smoking. Regarding the Anti-smoking Campaign, 34.7 percent of the sample had seen the ads first-hand. The impact of the campaign on smokers was assessed by their level of use pre- and post-campaign. The paired t-test was used to test the level of significance. The mean use level before the campaign was 2.5217 and after, 2,1196, yielding a difference in means of 0.1112. The t value was 3.61 with degrees of freedom and a two-tailed probability of 0.001 - a highly significant and desirable result. Implications of the study, for behaviour change, are discussed.(AU)