The 2005 British Columbia Smoking Cessation Mass Media Campaign and short-term changes in smoking.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the 2005 British Columbia Ministry of Health Smoking Cessation Mass Media Campaign on short-term smoking behavior.


METHODS
National cross-sectional data are used with a quasi-experimental approach to test the impact of the campaign.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings indicate that prevalence and average number of cigarettes smoked per day deviated upward from trend for the rest of Canada (P = .08; P = .01) but not for British Columbia. They also indicate that British Columbia smokers in lower risk groups reduced their average daily consumption of cigarettes over and above the 1999-2004 trend (-2.23; P = .10), whereas smokers in the rest of Canada did not, and that British Columbia smokers in high-risk groups did not increase their average daily consumption of cigarettes over and above the 1999-2004 trend, whereas smokers in the rest of Canada did (2.97; P = .01).


CONCLUSIONS
The overall poorer performance of high-risk groups is attributed to high exposure to cigarette smoking, which reduces a smoker's chances of successful cessation. In particular, high-risk groups are by definition more likely to be exposed to smoking by peers, but are also less likely to work in workplaces with smoking bans, which are shown to have a substantial impact on prevalence. Results suggest that for mass media campaigns to be more effective with high-risk groups, they need to be combined with other incentives, and that more prolonged interventions should be considered.
Gagné
Lynda
L
School of Public Administration at University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. lgagne@uvic.ca
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001955:British Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000379:methods*; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D040241:Social Marketing; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017132:Workplace / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution