title: The association between exposure to point-of-sale anti-smoking warnings and smokers' interest in quitting and quit attempts: findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to examine the associations between reported exposure to anti-smoking warnings at the point-of-sale (POS) and smokers' interest in quitting and their subsequent quit attempts by comparing reactions in Australia where warnings are prominent to smokers in other countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective multi-country cohort design was employed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 21,613 adult smokers who completed at least one of the seven waves (2002-08) of the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey were included in the analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reported exposure to POS anti-smoking warnings and smokers' interest in quitting at the same wave and quit attempts over the following year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to smokers in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, Australian smokers reported higher levels of awareness of POS anti-smoking warnings, and this difference was consistent over the study period. Over waves in Australia (but not in the other three countries) there was a significantly positive association between reported exposure to POS anti-smoking warnings and interest in quitting [adjusted odds ratio = 1.139, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.039-1.249, P < 0.01] and prospective quit attempts (adjusted odds ratio = 1.216, 95% CI 1.114-1.327, P < 0.001) when controlling for demographics, smoking characteristics, overall salience of anti-smoking information and awareness of anti-smoking material from channels other than POS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Point-of-sale health warnings about tobacco are more prominent in Australia than the United Kingdom, the United States or Canada and appear to act as a prompt to quitting.
authors.affiliation: VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. lin.li@cancervic.org.au
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borland
authors.forename: Hua-Hie
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.forename: Sara C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hitchman
authors.forename: Melanie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: Karin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kasza
authors.forename: Geoffrey T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Fong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia; D002170:Canada; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019064:Product Packaging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult