Less than 50% of US adults exposed to court-ordered anti-smoking advertising

Anti-smoking advertisements ordered by the tobacco industry's courts have reached only 40.6% of US adults and 50.5% of current smokers in 2018, according to a new MD Anderson Cancer Center study of 39, University of Texas. Advertising exposure was even lower among some ethnic and socio-economic subgroups traditionally targeted by the tobacco industry's marketing.

The results, published today in JAMA Network open now, should be considered when planning future tobacco-free advertising for youth and at-risk populations, said Sanjay Shete, senior author, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics and epidemiology and deputy chief of cancer prevention and population sciences.

Compared to other nationally funded anti-tobacco campaigns, the reach and penetration of these industry-sponsored ads was suboptimal. As cancer prevention researchers, we hope more people will see these ads and avoid smoking or consider quitting. Based on our findings, future efforts in this space need to be more focused to reach key populations. "

Lead author Sanjay Shete, Ph.D.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing approximately 480,000 people each year. Smoking is also the leading preventable cause of cancer, responsible for about 30% of all cancers and 90% of all lung cancers.

The corrective judgments were mandated in a 2006 ruling by US Judge Gladys Kessler. They began airing on prime time television and in 50 key American newspapers in November 2017. MD Anderson hailed these commercials as an important step in informing Americans of the harms of smoking.

This study evaluated data from the National Health Information Survey conducted in 2018, a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of US adults sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. The study badyzed responses from 3,484 adults, including 450 current smokers, collected between January and May 2018 on self-reported exposure to tobacco-free ads.

Exposure was lowest among adults aged 18 to 34 (37.4%), those with lower or higher education (34.5%) and those with household incomes below 35%. $ 000 (37.5%). Among current smokers, exposure was the lowest in the Hispanic population, with only 42.2%.

Historically, some ethnic groups and those of lower socio-economic status have been targeted by the commercialization of the tobacco industry, which has resulted in high rates of tobacco use and tobacco-related illness among these populations. Ideally, these risk groups would have been the most exposed to these ads, but on the contrary, they had the least. "

First Author Onyema Greg Chido-Amajuoyi, M.B.S., Postdoctoral Fellow in Epidemiology

The researchers found that the rates of exposure increased with the duration of the campaign: 41.3% in February 2018 and 46.8% in May 2018. This highlights the need for sustained publicity to evaluate the Long-term impact on public health, explained Shete. .

The authors recognize some limitations of the study inherent in the use of such a survey. Responses were self-reported and therefore prone to recall and some biases. In addition, since the survey is cross-sectional, it is impossible to establish a causal link between exposure and cessation attempts. Finally, there was no distinction between television exposure and print advertising, which could have led to a better understanding.