The effect of the United Kingdom smoking ban on alcohol spending: Evidence from the Living Costs and Food Survey

Understanding changes in the locations of drinking occasions in Great Britain: An age-period-cohort analysis of repeat cross-sectional market research data, 2001-2019

INTRODUCTION

The 21st century has seen wide-ranging changes in drinking locations in Great Britain, with on-trade alcohol sales decreasing and off-trade sales increasing. To better understand the underlying time-trends in consumer behaviour, we examine age-period-cohort (APC) effects related to changes in the share of individuals' drinking occasions taking place in: (i) on-trade versus off-trade locations; and (ii) specific on-trade or off-trade locations, that is traditional/community pubs, modern pubs/bars/café bars, nightclubs/late-night venues, restaurants/pub restaurants, social/working men's clubs, golf/other sports clubs/venues, at home (social setting) and at home (non-social setting).

METHODS

Repeat cross-sectional 1-week drinking diary data, collected 2001-2019. APC analysis via negative binomial regression models for each gender (N = 162,296 men, 138,452 women).

RESULTS

A smaller/declining proportion of occasions took place in on-trade compared to off-trade locations. Recent cohorts tended to have a larger share of on-trade occasions than previous cohorts, driven by their larger share of occasions in modern pubs/bars/café bars and nightclubs/late-night venues. Meanwhile, occasions in social/working men's clubs, golf/other sports clubs/venues and traditional/community pubs tended to be popular among older men, but have declined. Finally, the growth of off-trade drinking appears to be driven by a growth of off-trade drinking in non-social settings, in particular by older people/cohorts.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the declining prominence of certain on-trade locations, and increasing prominence of home drinking in non-social settings, within British drinking practices. While rising non-social home drinking is concerning, it is positive from a public health perspective that it does not appear to be shared by recent cohorts.

A 114% Cigarette Tax Hike and Drinking Behavior: Results From Nationally Representative Longitudinal Panel Data in Korea

This study investigated whether or not drinking behavior changed among Korean adult smokers after a 114% cigarette tax hike in 2015. Data were drawn from waves 9 to 12 (collected yearly from 2014 to 2017) of the nationally representative longitudinal study, the Korean Welfare Panel Study. Korean adults who were ≥19 years comprised the analysis sample (N = 10 875). We applied a difference-in-differences approach to compare drinking behavior before and after the tax increase among three groups (ie, quitters, continued smokers, and nonsmokers). We found that alcohol drinking significantly decreased among those who quit smoking after the tax increase, compared with nonsmokers ( P = .022). Our findings support that a cigarette tax increase may have the beneficial spillover influence of reduction in drinking as well as smoking if the tax increase can induce smokers to quit, but such positive spillover influence may be short-term or null for continued smokers.

Factors influencing smoking behaviour of online ride-hailing drivers in China: a cross-sectional analysis

BACKGROUND

Online ride-hailing is a fast-developing new travel mode. However, tobacco control policies on its drivers remain underdeveloped. This study aims to reveal the status and determine the influencing factors of ride-hailing drivers' smoking behaviour to provide a basis for the formulation of tobacco control policies.

METHODS

We derived our cross-sectional data from an online survey of full-time ride-hailing drivers in China. We used a survey questionnaire to collect variables, including sociodemographic and work-related characteristics, health status, health behaviour, health literacy and smoking status. Finally, we analysed the influencing factors of current smoking by conducting chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 8990 ride-hailing drivers have participated in the survey, in which 5024 were current smokers, accounting to 55.9%. Nearly one-third of smokers smoked in their cars (32.2%). The logistic regression analysis results were as follows: male drivers (OR = 0.519, 95% CI [0.416, 0.647]), central regions (OR = 1.172, 95% CI [1.049, 1.309]) and eastern regions (OR = 1.330, 95% CI [1.194, 1.480]), working at both daytime and night (OR = 1.287, 95% CI [1.164, 1.424]) and non-fixed time (OR = 0.847, 95% CI [0.718, 0.999]), ages of 35-54 years (OR = 0.585, 95% CI [0.408, 0.829]), current drinker (OR = 1.663, 95% CI [1.526, 1.813]), irregular eating habits (OR = 1.370, 95% CI [1.233, 1.523]), the number of days in a week of engaging in at least 10 min of moderate or vigorous exercise ≥3 (OR = 0.752, 95% CI [0.646, 0.875]), taking the initiative to acquire health knowledge occasionally (OR = 0.882, 95% CI [0.783, 0.992]) or frequently (OR = 0.675, 95% CI [0.591, 0.770]) and underweight (OR = 1.249, 95% CI [1.001, 1.559]) and overweight (OR = 0.846, 95% CI [0.775, 0.924]) have association with the prevalence of current smoking amongst online ride-hailing drivers.

CONCLUSION

The smoking rate of ride-hailing drivers was high. Sociodemographic and work-related characteristics and health-related factors affected their smoking behaviour. Psychological and behavioural interventions can promote smoking control management and encourage drivers to quit or limit smoking. Online car-hailing companies can also establish a complaint mechanism combined with personal credit.

Conceptualising changes to tobacco and alcohol policy as affecting a single interlinked system

BACKGROUND

To support a move towards a coordinated non-communicable disease approach in public health policy, it is important to conceptualise changes to policy on tobacco and alcohol as affecting a single interlinked system. For health economic models to effectively inform policy, the first step in their development should be to develop a conceptual understanding of the system complexity that is likely to affect the outcomes of policy change. Our aim in this study was to support the development and interpretation of health economic models of the effects of changes to tobacco and alcohol policies by developing a conceptual understanding of the main components and mechanisms in the system that links policy change to outcomes.

METHODS

Our study was based on a workshop from which we captured data on participant discussions on the joint tobacco-alcohol policy system. To inform these discussions, we prepared with a literature review and a survey of participants. Participants were academics and policy professionals who work in the United Kingdom. Data were analysed thematically to produce a description of the main components and mechanisms within the system.

RESULTS

Of the people invited, 24 completed the survey (18 academic, 6 policy); 21 attended the workshop (16 academic, 5 policy). Our analysis identified eleven mechanisms through which individuals might modify the effects of a policy change, which include mechanisms that might lead to linked effects of policy change on tobacco and alcohol consumption. We identified ten mechanisms by which the tobacco and alcohol industries might modify the effects of policy changes, grouped into two categories: Reducing policy effectiveness; Enacting counter-measures. Finally, we identified eighteen research questions that indicate potential avenues for further work to understand the potential outcomes of policy change.

CONCLUSIONS

Model development should carefully consider the ways in which individuals and the tobacco and alcohol industries might modify the effects of policy change, and the extent to which this results in an unequal societal distribution of outcomes. Modelled evidence should then be interpreted in the light of the conceptual understanding of the system that the modelling necessarily simplifies in order to predict the outcomes of policy change.