SHORT REPORT
Are political views related to smoking
and support for tobacco control policies?
A survey across 28 European countries
| 1 | Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health,
Imperial College, London,
UK |
| 2 | Center for Health Services Research, School of Medicine, National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece |
| 3 | Laboratory of Toxicology,
Medical School, University of Crete, Rethimno, Greece |
| 4 | Department of
Healthcare, Faculty of Public Health, University of Vlora, Vlora, Albania |
| 5 | Institute of Public Health, American College of Greece, Athens, Greece |
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Filippos T. Filippidis
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College, 310 Reynolds Building, St. Dunstan’s Road, W6 8RP, London, UK
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College, 310 Reynolds Building, St. Dunstan’s Road, W6 8RP, London, UK
Publication date: 2017-12-08
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2017;15(December):45
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Background:
General political views are rarely considered when discussing public support for tobacco control policies and tobacco use. The aim of this study was to explore potential associations between political views, smoking and support for tobacco control policies.
Methods:
We analysed responses from 22,313 individuals aged ≥15 years from 28 European Union (EU) member states, who self-reported their political views (far-left [1–2 on a scale 1–10]; centre-left (3-4); centre (5-6); centre-right (7-8); and far-right (9-10) in wave 82.4 of the Eurobarometer survey in 2014. We ran multi-level logistic regression models to explore associations between political views and smoking, as well as support for tobacco control policies, adjusting for socio-demographic factors.
Results:
Compared to those placing themselves at the political centre, people with far-left political views were more likely to be current smokers (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.13; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.01–1.26), while those in the centre-right were the least likely to smoke (OR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.76–0.93). Similar associations were found for having ever been a smoker. Respondents on the left side of the political spectrum were more likely to support tobacco control policies and those on the centre-right were less likely to support them, as compared to those at the political centre, after controlling for smoking status.
Conclusions:
General political views may be associated not only with support for tobacco control policies, but even with smoking behaviours, which should be taken into account when discussing these issues at a population level. Further research is needed to explore the implications of these findings.
General political views are rarely considered when discussing public support for tobacco control policies and tobacco use. The aim of this study was to explore potential associations between political views, smoking and support for tobacco control policies.
Methods:
We analysed responses from 22,313 individuals aged ≥15 years from 28 European Union (EU) member states, who self-reported their political views (far-left [1–2 on a scale 1–10]; centre-left (3-4); centre (5-6); centre-right (7-8); and far-right (9-10) in wave 82.4 of the Eurobarometer survey in 2014. We ran multi-level logistic regression models to explore associations between political views and smoking, as well as support for tobacco control policies, adjusting for socio-demographic factors.
Results:
Compared to those placing themselves at the political centre, people with far-left political views were more likely to be current smokers (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.13; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.01–1.26), while those in the centre-right were the least likely to smoke (OR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.76–0.93). Similar associations were found for having ever been a smoker. Respondents on the left side of the political spectrum were more likely to support tobacco control policies and those on the centre-right were less likely to support them, as compared to those at the political centre, after controlling for smoking status.
Conclusions:
General political views may be associated not only with support for tobacco control policies, but even with smoking behaviours, which should be taken into account when discussing these issues at a population level. Further research is needed to explore the implications of these findings.
REFERENCES (21)
1.
European Commission Tobacco Policy. 2014. http://ec.europa.eu/health/tob.... Accessed 10 Juns 2017.
2.
World Health Organization. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2015: raising taxes on tobacco. 2015. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitst.... Accessed 10 June 2017.
3.
Joossens L, Raw M. The tobacco control scale 2016 in Europe. 2016. http://www.cancer.be/sites/def.... Accessed 10 June 2017.
4.
European Commission: Special Eurobarometer 429. Attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco. In.; 2015.
5.
Pega F, Kawachi I, Rasanathan K, Lundberg O. Politics, policies and population health: a commentary on Mackenbach, Hu and Looman (2013). Soc Sci Med. 2013;93:176–9. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.06.007
6.
Pabayo R, Kawachi I, Muennig P. Political party affiliation, political ideology and mortality. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2015;69(5):423–31. doi:10.1136/jech-2014-204803
7.
Macinko J, Silver D. Diffusion of impaired driving Laws among US states. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(9):1893–900. doi:10.2105/ajph.2015.302670
8.
Subramanian SV, Perkins JM. Are republicans healthier than democrats? Int J Epidemiol. 2010;39(3):930–1. doi:10.1093/ije/dyp152
9.
Subramanian SV, Huijts T, Perkins JM. Association between political ideology and health in Europe. Eur J Pub Health. 2009;19(5):455–7. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckp077
10.
Dorling D, Smith GD, Shaw M. Analysis of trends in premature mortality by labour voting in the 1997 general election. BMJ. 2001;322(7298):1336–7. doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7298.1336
11.
Gelman A, Shor B, Bafumi J, Park D. Rich state, poor state, red state, blue state: What's the matter with Connecticut? Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 2008;2(4):345–67.
12.
Kelleher C, Timoney A, Friel S, McKeown D. Indicators of deprivation, voting patterns, and health status at area level in the Republic of Ireland. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002;56(1):36–44. doi:10.1136/jech.56.1.36
13.
Page A, Morrell S, Taylor R. Suicide and political regime in new South Wales and Australia during the 20th century. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002;56(10):766–72. doi:10.1136/jech.56.10.766
14.
Gruber J, Mullainathan S: Do cigarette taxes make smokers happier? National Bureau of economic research working paper series 2002, No. 8872.
15.
Tung GJ, Vernick JS, Stuart EA, Webster DW. Political factors affecting the enactment of state-level clean indoor air laws. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(6):e92–7. doi:10.2105/ajph.2013.301689
16.
European Commission: Eurobarometer 82.4, November–December 2014. GESIS Data Archive: ZA5933, dataset version 5.0.0 (2014). In.: TNS OPINION & SOCIAL, Brussels; 2014.
17.
Fox AM, Feng W, Yumkham R. State political ideology, policies and health behaviors: the case of tobacco. Soc Sci Med. 2017;181:139–47. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.03.056
18.
Filippidis FT, Agaku IT, Vardavas CI. The association between peer, parental influence and tobacco product features and earlier age of onset of regular smoking among adults in 27 European countries. Eur J Pub Health. 2015;25(5):814–8. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckv068
19.
Anker TB. Analysis of the paternalistic justification of an agenda setting public health policy: the case of tobacco plain packaging. Public Health Ethics. 2016;9(2):208–28. doi:10.1093/phe/phw007
20.
Fooks GJ, Smith J, Lee K, Holden C. Controlling corporate influence in health policy making? An assessment of the implementation of article 5.3 of the World Health Organization framework convention on tobacco control. Glob Health. 2017;13(1):12. doi:10.1186/s12992-017-0234-8
21.
European Comission. Directive 2014/40/EU Of The European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products and repealing Directive 2001/37/EC. 2014. http://ec.europa.eu/health/tob.... Accessed 10 June 2017.
CITATIONS (6):
1.
German Public Support for Tobacco Control Policy Measures: Results from the German Study on Tobacco Use (DEBRA), a Representative National Survey
Melanie Boeckmann, Daniel Kotz, Lion Shahab, Jamie Brown, Sabrina Kastaun
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Melanie Boeckmann, Daniel Kotz, Lion Shahab, Jamie Brown, Sabrina Kastaun
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
2.
Study protocol of EUREST-PLUS - European Regulatory Science on Tobacco: Policy Implementation to Reduce Lung Disease
Constantine Vardavas, Nicolas Bécuwe, Tibor Demjén, Esteve Fernández, Ann McNeill, Ute Mons, Yannis Tountas, Antigona Trofor, Aristides Tsatsakis, Gernot Rohde, Marc Willemsen, Krzysztof Przewoźniak, Witold Zatoński, Geoffrey Fong
Tobacco Induced Diseases
Constantine Vardavas, Nicolas Bécuwe, Tibor Demjén, Esteve Fernández, Ann McNeill, Ute Mons, Yannis Tountas, Antigona Trofor, Aristides Tsatsakis, Gernot Rohde, Marc Willemsen, Krzysztof Przewoźniak, Witold Zatoński, Geoffrey Fong
Tobacco Induced Diseases
3.
Public support for tobacco control policies: The role of the protection of children against tobacco
Thomas G. Kuijpers, Marc C. Willemsen, Anton E. Kunst
Health Policy
Thomas G. Kuijpers, Marc C. Willemsen, Anton E. Kunst
Health Policy
4.
Short- and Long-Term Effects of a Tobacco-Free Executive Order on Employee Tobacco Use
Ellen Hahn, Melinda Ickes, Amanda Wiggins, Rayens Kay, Bradley Polivka, Parento Whelan
Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice
Ellen Hahn, Melinda Ickes, Amanda Wiggins, Rayens Kay, Bradley Polivka, Parento Whelan
Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice
5.
Analysing incompliant attitudes towards antibiotic prescription completion in the UK
Alistair Anderson
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Alistair Anderson
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
6.
Mapping and comparing French people’s positions regarding restrictive control policies: a pilot study
Sylvie Castanié, Sastre Munoz, Lonzozou Kpanake, Etienne Mullet
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy
Sylvie Castanié, Sastre Munoz, Lonzozou Kpanake, Etienne Mullet
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy
Related articles
