Tobaco Studies

Abstract

Quantitative data is not required to be convinced that tobacco smoking is harmful. In 1604, shortly after tobacco smoking was introduced in Europe, King James I of England wrote A Counterblaste to Tobacco, in which he wrote, "Smoking is a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless." Many people did not take heed to their dear king's advice. Over time, tobacco smoking became more and more popular. This paper reviews five separate studies which illustrate different aspects of tobacco initiation, usage and cessation with the use of different statistical methods.

Study's on Tobacco Initiation, Usage and Cessation

Introduction and Literature

In the United States, tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and disease. Smoking kills more than 440,000 people in the United States each year, with most deaths occurring from lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, and chronic airway obstruction (Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2002) yet; approximately 23% of American adults continue to smoke cigarettes (2002). In 2000, it was estimated that approximately 8.6 million persons in the United States were living with at least one condition attributed to smoking (2002).

There have been thousands of research projects and studies which have been conducted on the topic of nicotine and tobacco. The first groundbreaking study conducted on the subject of tobacco was by medical statisticians and epidemiologists Richard Doll and Austin Bradford Hill. It was the first study which proved that smoking causes lung cancer. (Medical Research Council, 2004)

Over the decades, more focus and emphasis has been placed on tobacco cessation and the best methods to accomplish total cessation from tobacco addiction. I have selected four different studies which use Chi-square, ANOVA, descriptive statistics and regression analysis, and double-blind studies as methods of statistical analysis and research involved in the studies of tobacco cessation.

Study #1

Aiming at Tobacco Harm Reduction: A survey comparing smokers differing in readiness to quit

Greece has the highest smoking rates in Europe. The purpose of this study was to investigate Greek smokers' self appraisal of the capability to quit. A cross-sectional study including 401 Greek habitual smokers (205 men and 195 women), (Loumakou et. Al 2006) falling into four groups according to their intention and self-appraised capability to quit smoking was initiated. Participants completed a questionnaire recording their attitude towards smoking, intention and self appraised capability to quit smoking, and socio-demographic information.

Respondents were 401 people (195 women, 206 men) ranging in age from 18 to 60 years (mean = 27.5, S.D. = 9.2 years) (Loumakou et. al 2006). All were habitual smokers with a self-reported average daily smoking habit of between "10 to 20" and "40 or more" cigarettes per day. All respondents were approached at public places (bus and train stations, airport, bars, cafeterias and public services' waiting rooms) in Thessaloniki, the second biggest city in Greece. Participation in the study was voluntary and no financial compensation was made to the survey takers. After a short introduction about the study, they were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire about smoking. Non-respondents were 45 individuals (10.3%). According to respondents' answers regarding intention and self appraised capability to quit smoking they were allocated into four different groups.

The four groups differed in their "readiness" to quit smoking. Group A consisted of 94 subjects (23%), who intended and felt capable to quit and Group B consisted of 65 subjects (16%), who intended but did not feel capable to quit. Group C consisted of 90 subjects (22%), who claimed that they are capable to quit but they did not intend to and Group D consisted of the 152 subjects (38%), who stated that neither intended nor felt capable to quit. For the statistical analysis chi-square tests as well as ANOVA was used. Age, gender and education were not found to be associated with readiness to quit smoking. About half of the respondents were women (49%) and the gender ratio was similar in the four groups (X2 (3) = 3.38, P = .336) (Loumakou et al 2006). The age of the sample ranged from 18 to 60 years while most of them (72%) were in the 20 to 35 years range. On the average, age did not differ very much between groups (F (3, 397)