Evaluating early implementation of the innovative Canadian policy of cigarette stick warnings among adults in Canada who smoke: An assessment using repeat cross-sectional surveys and daily diaries

TL;DR

This study evaluated how Canadian smokers responded to new cigarette stick warnings, finding increased awareness and some positive effects on quitting behavior.

Contribution

The study is the first to assess the real-world impact of cigarette stick warnings using both standard and daily diary surveys.

Findings

Noticing stick warnings increased significantly over time in both survey methods.

Standard surveys showed increased quit motivation and negative feelings toward cigarette sticks.

Daily diary surveys showed smaller but still significant increases in warning noticeability.

Abstract

In 2024, Canada became the first country to implement warning messages on cigarette sticks. Warnings were required on king-size cigarettes in April 2024 at the manufacturer level and July 2024 at the retail level. The purpose of this study was to evaluate responses to cigarette stick warnings among adults who smoke in Canada using a standard survey and a daily diary study.

We used two separate online survey (i.e. questionnaire) methods with Canadian adults who smoke daily and use king-size cigarettes, with data collected in February, May, and August 2024. The first method was a standard cohort survey (observations=1724; participants=999), with one survey each data collection period. Participants were followed up in subsequent waves. Participants reported noticing health information on cigarette sticks ‘any’ vs ‘none’, and ≥ ‘almost all’ vs ‘fewer cigarettes’ in last month. The second method was a daily diary study (observations=10572; participants=527), with brief surveys every evening for two weeks during each data collection period. Participants reported noticing health information on cigarette sticks (‘any’ vs ‘none’ in last 24 hours). Samples for the two studies were distinct. In both studies, we also assessed feelings about the look of cigarette sticks (1=very bad to 5=very good), forgoing cigarettes normally smoked (no vs yes), and quit motivation (continuous). Generalized estimating equations regressed outcomes on survey period, adjusting for sociodemographic and smoking-related covariates.

Noticing stick warnings increased in both surveys [standard ‘any’: May=58%, August=73%, OR=2.29 (95% CI: 1.81–2.91); standard ≥ ‘almost all’: May=27%, August=44%, OR=2.56 (95% CI: 1.99–3.30); daily diary: February=6%, May=10%, OR=1.77 (95% CI: 1.29–2.44), August=16%, OR=2.92 (95% CI: 1.73–4.93), all p<0.001]. Over time, negative feelings toward sticks [February=4.10, August=3.91, mean diff= -0.19 (95% CI: -0.32 – -0.05), p=0.006], forgoing cigarettes [February=56%, August=63%, OR=1.44 (95% CI: 1.12–1.86), p=0.004] and quit motivation [February=4.74, August=5.03, mean diff=0.30 (95% CI: 0.06–0.53), p=0.014] increased in the standard surveys, but not the daily diary study.

Canadian adults who smoke king-size cigarettes increasingly noticed cigarette stick warnings over the early implementation period. The standard survey also found increases in cessation-related responses to stick warnings. Future research should assess long-term impacts of this policy and validate standard and daily diary survey methods for evaluating labeling policies.

Figures