title: Knowledge of the new Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act is associated with smokers' behavior of seeking help in smoking cessation in Taiwan.
abstract: Evidence that smoking area restrictions and raising cigarette taxes affect smokers' behavior of seeking help in cessation is limited. The authors conducted a case-control study of 200 participants in Taipei City, Taiwan, from December 2008 to June 2009 to evaluate the association between knowledge on legislation and the behavior of seeking help in smoking cessation. They compared smokers who sought assistance in clinics/classes and smokers who did not, matching for age, gender, and recruitment time. In a univariate model, both banning smoking and increasing prices had positive effects on smokers' behavior, but the effect size of the latter was larger (P = .021). A better knowledge of the regulations was associated with cessation effort (odds ratio [OR] = 2.74; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.44-5.23), as were being more influenced by increased prices (OR = 2.44; 95% CI = 1.38-4.34) and by smoking bans (OR = 2.32; 95% CI = 1.29-4.16). Increased knowledge of the regulations is associated with seeking help for smoking.
authors.affiliation: National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tai-Yin
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan weichu@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Wei-Chu
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chie
authors.affiliation: National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mei-Shu
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kuan-Liang
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, Charing Cross Campus, London, UK.
authors.forename: Azeem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Majeed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003132:Commerce / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D013624:Taiwan; D013660:Taxes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution