Online Program

280416
Does spending on cigarettes crowd out other household expenditures in China? findings from the ITC China survey


Wednesday, November 6, 2013 : 9:30 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.

Tingting Yao, PhD, Institute for Health & Aging, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Jidong Huang, PhD, Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Hai-Yen Sung, PhD, Institute for Health & Aging, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Michael Ong, MD, PhD, Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Zhengzhong Mao, Huaxi School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Yuan Jiang, National Tobacco Control Office, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
Geoffrey T. Fong, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Wendy Max, PhD, Institute for Health & Aging, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Background: Spending on cigarettes may crowd out other household expenditures like food in both developing and developed countries. The goal of this study was to examine the prevalence of and factors associated with this behavior among smokers (age ≥18) in China.

Methods: Data were analyzed from Waves 1-3 of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey, conducted from 2006-2009 among adult smokers in six cities in China (N=8,556). Crowding out was measured with the survey question “In the last six months, have you spent money on cigarettes that you knew would be better spent on household essentials like food?” We examined whether sociodemographic factors and smoking intensity were associated with crowding out behavior using generalized estimating equations modeling. Sociodemographic factors included age, gender, marital status, education, income, employment status, and city.

Results: 7.5% of smokers reported crowding out household expenditures by purchasing cigarettes. We found that low income smokers (OR=2.32, 95%CI=1.65-3.26) and smokers resident in Yinchuan (OR=2.56, 95%CI=1.62-4.04) were more likely to engage in crowding out than high income smokers and smokers resident in Beijing. We also found that retired smokers were less likely to engage in crowding out than employed smokers (OR=0.60, 95%CI=0.41-0.89). There was no statistically significant relationship between smoking intensity and crowding out.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that some groups of smokers in China acknowledge spending money on cigarettes that could be better spent on household essentials. Tobacco control policies that reduce smoking prevalence in China may improve household living standards by reducing this crowding out effect.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the behavior of crowding out household expenditures by purchasing cigarettes among adult smokers in China; Understand the association between crowding out behavior and socio-demographic characteristics for adults.

Keyword(s): International Public Health, Tobacco Control

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a post-doctoral fellow at the UCSF Institute for Health & Aging, School of Nursing. I have been working in the field of tobacco control since 2007. My current studies include estimating the economic costs of secondhand smoke exposure in China, and analyzing smoking expenditure and behavior in different Chinese socio-economic groups.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.