Heather Wipfli1, Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan2, Xuezheng Qin3, Yuliya Gainullina4, Erlinda Palaganas5, Masamine Jimba6, Junko Saito7, Karin Ernstrom8, Rema Raman9, Mellissa Withers10. 1. University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, 2001 N Soto Street, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA. Electronic address: hwipfli@usc.edu. 2. Organization for Human Development Initiatives through Research (OHDIR) Foundation, 403 East Kafrul, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka 1206, Bangladesh. 3. Peking University, School of Economics, No 5 Yiheyuan Rd, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: xqin@pku.edu.cn. 4. Far Eastern Federal University, School of Arts and Humanities, Sukhanova 8, Vladivostok, Russia. Electronic address: gaynullina.yi@dvfu.ru. 5. University of the Philippines Baguio, Governor Pack Road, Baguio City 2600, Philippines. Electronic address: ecpalaganas@up.edu.ph. 6. Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. Electronic address: mjimba@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp. 7. Division of Prevention, Centre for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Centre, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. Electronic address: jsaito@ncc.go.jp. 8. Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC University of Southern California, 9860 Mesa Rim Rd, San Diego, CA 92121, USA. Electronic address: ernstrom@usc.edu. 9. University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine. 2001 N Soto Street SSB 318G, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA. Electronic address: remar@usc.edu. 10. University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, 2001 N Soto Street, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA. Electronic address: mwithers@usc.edu.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The Asia-Pacific is home to 30% of the world's smokers. Additional efforts are needed to reduce negative health impacts of tobacco, including e-cigarettes. The study objectives were to 1. Investigate Asian-Pacific students' knowledge, attitudes, and use of tobacco products; 2. Determine the level of student support for tobacco control policies; and 3. Examine differences in students' attitudes by the strength of national tobacco control policies based on implementation of WHO's MPOWER package, and e-cigarette regulation in their countries. METHODS: A total of 1953 students from members of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities in 13 countries completed the online survey. We compared the results by the Fisher-Freeman-Halton test. RESULTS: While about 83% of students had heard of e-cigarettes; only 14.1% had tried them. Students in countries with e-cigarette bans were the least likely to report having experimented with e-cigarettes (8.1%). While the vast majority of students (87.9%) reported having seen health campaigns targeting combustible cigarettes, far fewer (42.5%) had seen any health campaigns targeting e-cigarettes. About 80% of students supported smoke-free campuses, with the most support coming from those in countries with the weakest adoption of MPOWER policies (88.7%) and no e-cigarette regulations (80.4%). Students in countries with the weakest MPOWER policies were also the most likely to support campus bans and government regulation of e-cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption of tobacco control polices by government may have an impact on e-cigarette smoking behavior among students, and student support for tobacco control, including noncombustible products, is high. Universities should take action by adopting comprehensive tobacco control measures that include e-cigarette regulations.
INTRODUCTION: The Asia-Pacific is home to 30% of the world's smokers. Additional efforts are needed to reduce negative health impacts of tobacco, including e-cigarettes. The study objectives were to 1. Investigate Asian-Pacific students' knowledge, attitudes, and use of tobacco products; 2. Determine the level of student support for tobacco control policies; and 3. Examine differences in students' attitudes by the strength of national tobacco control policies based on implementation of WHO's MPOWER package, and e-cigarette regulation in their countries. METHODS: A total of 1953 students from members of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities in 13 countries completed the online survey. We compared the results by the Fisher-Freeman-Halton test. RESULTS: While about 83% of students had heard of e-cigarettes; only 14.1% had tried them. Students in countries with e-cigarette bans were the least likely to report having experimented with e-cigarettes (8.1%). While the vast majority of students (87.9%) reported having seen health campaigns targeting combustible cigarettes, far fewer (42.5%) had seen any health campaigns targeting e-cigarettes. About 80% of students supported smoke-free campuses, with the most support coming from those in countries with the weakest adoption of MPOWER policies (88.7%) and no e-cigarette regulations (80.4%). Students in countries with the weakest MPOWER policies were also the most likely to support campus bans and government regulation of e-cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption of tobacco control polices by government may have an impact on e-cigarette smoking behavior among students, and student support for tobacco control, including noncombustible products, is high. Universities should take action by adopting comprehensive tobacco control measures that include e-cigarette regulations.