Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7(11), 4089-4099; doi:10.3390/ijerph7114089
Article

Impact of the New Malaysian Cigarette Pack Warnings on Smokers’ Awareness of Health Risks and Interest in Quitting Smoking

Ahmed I. Fathelrahman 1,2,* email, Maizurah Omar 1 email, Rahmat Awang 1 email, K. Michael Cummings 3 email, Ron Borland 4 email and Ahmad Shalihin Bin Mohd Samin 1 email
1 The Clearing House for Tobacco Control, the National Poison Center, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 2 Ministry of Health-Khartoum State, Khartoum, Post Office Box 1517, Sudan 3 Department of Health Behavior, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Elm and Carlton Streets, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA 4 Cancer Control Research Institute, the Cancer Council Victoria, 1 Rathdowne St, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 16 October 2010; in revised form: 10 November 2010 / Accepted: 16 November 2010 / Published: 22 November 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tobacco Smoking: Public Health, Science and Policy)
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Abstract: The objective of this research was to compare the response of adult smokers in Malaysia to newly proposed pictorial cigarette warnings against the current text-only warnings. The study population included 140 adult male smokers who were enrolled in a randomized trial to view either the new pictorial warnings (intervention) or the old text-only warnings (control). Participants completed pre-exposure and post-exposure questionnaires that assessed their awareness of the health risks of smoking, response to the package warnings, and interest in quitting smoking. Exposure to the pictorial warnings resulted in increased awareness of the risks of smoking, stronger behavioral response to the warnings and increased interest in quitting smoking. The new warnings in Malaysia will increase smokers’ knowledge of the adverse health effects of smoking and have a positive effect on interest in quitting.
Keywords: pictorial cigarette package warning labels; smoking behavior; awareness of health risk; interest in quitting; Malaysia; adult smokers; randomized trial; questionnaire; knowledge score

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Fathelrahman, A.I.; Omar, M.; Awang, R.; Cummings, K.M.; Borland, R.; Samin, A.S.B.M. Impact of the New Malaysian Cigarette Pack Warnings on Smokers’ Awareness of Health Risks and Interest in Quitting Smoking. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 4089-4099.

AMA Style

Fathelrahman AI, Omar M, Awang R, Cummings KM, Borland R, Samin ASBM. Impact of the New Malaysian Cigarette Pack Warnings on Smokers’ Awareness of Health Risks and Interest in Quitting Smoking. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2010; 7(11):4089-4099.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fathelrahman, Ahmed I.; Omar, Maizurah; Awang, Rahmat; Cummings, K. Michael; Borland, Ron; Samin, Ahmad Shalihin Bin Mohd. 2010. "Impact of the New Malaysian Cigarette Pack Warnings on Smokers’ Awareness of Health Risks and Interest in Quitting Smoking." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 7, no. 11: 4089-4099.

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