Ted Chen

Role of parents and peers in influencing the smoking status of high school students in Taiwan

Objectives: To assess parental influence on smoking behaviour by high school students in an Asian culture and to compare the relative importance of parental and peer influence. Methods: A 5% nationally representative sample, including 44 976 high school students in 10th to 12th grade (aged 15–18 years) in Taiwan, were surveyed in 1995. Each completed a long self administered questionnaire. Parental influence was measured by examining both parental behaviour (smoking status) and attitudes (perceived “tender loving care” (TLC) by adolescents). Changes in smoking status were used to determine peer influence, defined as the increase in the likelihood of smoking from grade 10 to 12 in a steady state environment. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for parental and peer influence, using logistic regression. Results: Adolescents of smoking parents with low TLC had the highest smoking rates and those of non-smoking parents with high TLC had the lowest. The difference was more than twofold in boys and more than fourfold in girls. When either parental smoking status or TLC alone was considered, parental influence was similar to peer influence in boys, but larger than peer influence in girls. However, when smoking status and TLC were considered jointly, it became larger than peer influence for both groups (OR 2.8 v 1.8 for boys and OR 3.9 v 1.3 for girls). Conclusion: When parental influence is taken as parental behaviour and attitude together, it plays a more important role than peer influence in smoking among high school students in Taiwan. This study, characterising such relationships among Asian populations for the first time, implies that future prevention programmes should direct more efforts toward the parental smoking and parent–child relationships, and not aim exclusively at adolescents in schools.

Are marketing campaigns in Taiwan by foreign tobacco companies targeting young smokers

Objective: To assess the impact of promotions on cigarette sales in Taiwan after the cigarette market opened to foreign companies, and to assess whether young smokers were targeted by these companies. Methods: Trends in cigarette sales, advertising expenditure, brand preference, and cigarette consumption were examined for the period following the 1987 opening of the cigarette market. Tobacco industry internal documents from Legacy Tobacco Documents Library of the University of California, San Francisco, were searched for corporate strategies on promoting youth consumption in Taiwan. Results: Between 1995 and 2000, the inflation adjusted advertising expenditures by all foreign firms increased fourfold. Much of the expenditure was spent on brand stretching the Mild Seven (Japan) and Davidoff (Germany) brands in television advertising. By 2000, the market share of foreign cigarettes exceeded domestics by three to one among young smokers and the leading brand preferred by this segment shifted from the most popular domestic brand (Long Life) to a foreign brand (Mild Seven). Furthermore, there was a sudden increase of 16.4% in smoking rates among young adults (from 36.1% to 42.0%) during the first five years after the market opened. This was also accompanied by increased per capita cigarette consumption and decreased age of smoking initiation. Industry documents confirmed the use of strategies targeted at the young. In particular, establishing new point of sale (POS) retail stores or promotional activities at POS were found to be more effective than advertising in magazines. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that advertising increased with increased competition following the market opening, which, in turn, spurred cigarette sales and consumption. Foreign tobacco companies have deliberately targeted youth in Taiwan and succeeded in gaining three quarters of their cigarette purchases within a decade. Expanding youth consumption will incur excessive future health care costs borne by society. Foreign tobacco companies should be obligated to reimburse these expenses through higher tariffs on cigarettes.

Poverty Increases Type 2 Diabetes Incidence and Inequality of Care Despite Universal Health Coverage

OBJECTIVE The discrepancy of diabetes incidence and care between socioeconomic statuses has seldom been studied concurrently in nations with universal health coverage. We aimed to delineate whether income disparity is associated with diabetes incidence and inequality of care under a national health insurance (NHI) program in Asia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS From the Taiwan NHI database in 2000, a representative cohort aged ≥20 years and free of diabetes (n = 600,662) were followed up until 2005. We regarded individuals exempt from paying the NHI premium as being poor. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were used to discover any excess risk of diabetes in the poor population. The indicators used to evaluate quality of diabetes care included the proportion of diabetic patients identified through hospitalization, visits to diabetes clinics, and completion of recommended diabetes tests. RESULTS The incidence of type 2 diabetes in the poor population was 20.4 per 1,000 person-years (HR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3–1.7). Compared with their middle-income counterparts, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the poor population incidentally identified as having diabetes through hospitalization was 2.2 (P < 0.001). Poor persons with diabetes were less likely to visit any diabetes clinic (OR, 0.4; P < 0.001). The ORs for the poor population with diabetes to receive tests for glycated hemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and retinopathy were 0.6 (0.4–0.9), 0.4 (0.2–0.7), 0.5 (0.4–0.8), and 0.4 (0.2–0.9), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Poverty is associated not only with higher diabetes incidence but also with inequality of diabetes care in a northeast Asian population, despite universal health coverage.

Who tended to continue smoking after cancer diagnosis: the national health and nutrition examination survey 1999–2008

BackgroundIt has been estimated that there are approximately 12 million cancer survivors in the United States. Continued smoking after a cancer diagnosis is linked to adverse effects among cancer survivors on overall survival, treatment effectiveness, and quality of life. Little is known about who is more likely to quit smoking after his/her cancer diagnosis. The objective of this study is to evaluate factors associated with smoking cessation in cancer survivors, which to date has not been well studied.MethodThe National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2008 surveys were used in this study. A total of 2,374 cancer survivors aged 20 and over with valid smoking status in the NHANES 99–08 survey were included in this study. Among them, 566 cancer survivors who regularly smoked at the time of their cancer diagnosis were included in the analyses.ResultsAround 50.6% of cancer survivors smoked regularly prior to their cancer diagnosis and only 36.1% of them quit smoking after their cancer diagnosis. Racial disparity was observed in smoking cessation among cancer survivors. Hispanics (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.10-0.57) were less likely to quit smoking than Whites after their cancer diagnosis.ConclusionTwo-thirds of cancer survivors continued smoking after cancer diagnosis. Our study observed that the high risk group of continued smokers among cancer survivors is made up of those who are female, younger, Hispanic, with longer smoking history, underweight or with normal weight and without smoking-related cancer. These findings suggest that smoking cessation for cancer survivors should target on the high risk subgroups.

Disparities in smoking and cessation status among cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals: a population-based study from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

IntroductionContinued smoking after a cancer diagnosis is a critical problem. This study examined smoking prevalence among all and specific cancer survivors, and compared demographic profiles of the current smokers between cancer and non-cancer individuals.MethodsWe used data from 2,188 cancer survivors and 22,441 non-cancer individuals who participated in the 10-year National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999–2008). All analyses were weighted to represent the United States population.ResultsThe current smoking rates decreased as age increased in both cancer and non-cancer populations. The smoking rate was higher in young cancer survivors (age <=40) than in young non-cancer individuals. The cervical, colon cancer and melanoma survivors had higher age-adjusted smoking rates than survivors of other cancers. For non-cancer individuals, the results showed that poorer white males with lower educational levels, with widowed, divorced, or separated marital status, who were underweight and had at least 12 alcoholic beverages a year, were more likely to be current smokers.Discussions/conclusionsWe can observe that age, race, education, marital status, and year since cancer diagnosis were important predictors of smoking status in cancer survivors based on the results of multivariable modeling and comparisons of age-adjusted smoking rates in specific cancer sub-groups. This implies that developing smoking cessation programs for cervical cancer and melanoma is of particularly high priority because survivors of these cancers had relatively high smoking rates and low quit smoking rates after diagnosis. These efforts should improve their quality of life and health status as well as reduce smoking-related health disparities.

Second-hand smoke exposure and the factors associated with avoidance behavior among the mothers of pre-school children: a school-based cross-sectional study

BackgroundSecond-hand Smoke (SHS) exposure is a significant public health problem that may be responsible for serious health hazards for child. This study aimed to examine the exposure status of SHS and the factors associated with SHS avoidance behavior among the mothers of pre-school children.MethodsA cross-sectional study was used to obtain a sample of the mothers of pre-school children (n = 1,020) in 30 registered kindergartens in eastern Taiwan. Overall, 919 (a response rate of 90%) completed the questionnaires. Regression models were used to identify factors with respect to the avoidance behavior of SHS.ResultsThe prevalence of exposure to SHS was 70% and 50% for the mothers and their children, respectively. After adjusting for other variables, mothers who were current smokers (β = -0.260, p < 0.001), had spouses who smoked (β = -0.060, p < 0.05), SHS exposure (β = -0.138, p < 0.001), and/or children with exposure to SHS (β = -0.084, p < 0.05) were found to be less likely to avoid SHS, whereas mothers with a high knowledge score about SHS (β = 0.082, p < 0.01), positive attitudes (β = 0.274, p < 0.001) and a high self-efficacy level in regard to the avoidance of SHS (β = 0.397, p < 0.001) were observed to be more likely to avoid SHS. Regression analyses confirmed that the significantly factors associated with the avoidance behavior of SHS were self-efficacy, being a current smoker, and the attitude toward the avoidance of SHS to be that of 55.5% of the total variance explained (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe high prevalence rate of exposure to SHS for mothers and their children suggests that a well-designed future intervention program should be implemented in regard to pre-school childrens mothers in order to prevent these mothers and their children from SHS exposure hazards, more particularly, to strengthen the knowledge base, to enhance self-efficacy and to foster a more positive attitude toward the avoidance of SHS in the mothers.

Trend and factors associated with healthcare use and costs in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a decade experience of a universal health insurance program.

Background:Little is known about how a universal National Health Insurance program with cost-containment strategies affect costs and quality of diabetes care. Objectives:To examine the trends of healthcare use and costs for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Taiwan over the last decade, and to identify factors associated with high healthcare cost and poor diabetes care. Research Design:We delineated the pattern of healthcare use and costs for T2DM in 2000–2010. Generalized linear and logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with medical costs and diabetes care. Subjects:Representative adult T2DM patients and age-matched and sex-matched nondiabetes individuals were selected from the 2000, 2005, and 2010 National Health Insurance Research Databases. Measures:Healthcare use included physician visits, hospital admissions, and antidiabetic drug prescriptions. Indicators of diabetes management included completeness of recommended diabetes tests and medication adherence, assessed using medication possession ratio. Results:The total healthcare cost per diabetes patient was approximately 2.8-fold higher than that for nondiabetes individual. The growth of healthcare cost per diabetes patient was significantly contained by about 3694 New Taiwan dollars (3.6%) between 2005 and 2010, but diabetes care improved over the decade. Diabetes duration, income, place of residence, continuity of care, and enrollment to a pay-for-performance program were associated with healthcare costs and diabetes management. Some public health measures implemented to support diabetes care were also discussed. Conclusions:Healthcare costs could be controlled without sacrificing the quality of diabetes care by implementing pay-for-performance programs and effective health policies favorable for diabetes care.

Role of Nicotine Dependence on the Relationship between Variants in the Nicotinic Receptor Genes and Risk of Lung Adenocarcinoma

Several variations in the nicotinic receptor genes have been identified to be associated with both lung cancer risk and smoking in the genome-wide association (GWA) studies. However, the relationships among these three factors (genetic variants, nicotine dependence, and lung cancer) remain unclear. In an attempt to elucidate these relationships, we applied mediation analysis to quantify the impact of nicotine dependence on the association between the nicotinic receptor genetic variants and lung adenocarcinoma risk. We evaluated 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the five nicotinic receptor related genes (CHRNB3, CHRNA6, and CHRNA5/A3/B4) previously reported to be associated with lung cancer risk and smoking behavior and 14 SNPs in the four ‘control’ genes (TERT, CLPTM1L, CYP1A1, and TP53), which were not reported in the smoking GWA studies. A total of 661 lung adenocarcinoma cases and 1,347 controls with a smoking history, obtained from the Environment and Genetics in Lung Cancer Etiology case-control study, were included in the study. Results show that nicotine dependence is a mediator of the association between lung adenocarcinoma and gene variations in the regions of CHRNA5/A3/B4 and accounts for approximately 15% of this relationship. The top two CHRNA3 SNPs associated with the risk for lung adenocarcinoma were rs1051730 and rs12914385 (p-value = 1.9×10−10 and 1.1×10−10, respectively). Also, these two SNPs had significant indirect effects on lung adenocarcinoma risk through nicotine dependence (p = 0.003 and 0.007). Gene variations rs2736100 and rs2853676 in TERT and rs401681 and rs31489 in CLPTM1L had significant direct associations on lung adenocarcinoma without indirect effects through nicotine dependence. Our findings suggest that nicotine dependence plays an important role between genetic variants in the CHRNA5/A3/B4 region, especially CHRNA3, and lung adenocarcinoma. This may provide valuable information for understanding the pathogenesis of lung adenocarcinoma and for conducting personalized smoking cessation interventions.

Household secondhand smoke exposure of elementary schoolchildren in Southern Taiwan and factors associated with their confidence in avoiding exposure: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundExposure to household Secondhand Smoke (SHS) poses a major health threat to children after an indoor smoking ban was imposed in Taiwan. This study aimed to assess the household SHS exposure in elementary school children in southern Taiwan and the factors associated with their avoidance of SHS exposure before and after the implementation of Taiwans new Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act in 2009.MethodsIn this cross-sectional school-based study, data on household SHS exposure, avoidance of SHS and related variables was obtained from the 2008 and 2009 Control of School-aged Children Smoking Study Survey. A random sample of 52 elementary schools was included. A total of 4450 3-6 graders (aged 8-13) completed the questionnaire. Regression models analyzed factors of childrens self-confidence to avoid household SHS exposure.ResultsOver 50% of children were found to have lived with a family member who smoked in front of them after the new law enacted, and 35% of them were exposed to household SHS more than 4 days a week. Having a positive attitude toward smoking (β = -0.05 to -0.06) and high household SHS exposure (β = -0.34 to -0.47) were significantly associated with a lower avoidance of SHS exposure. Comparing to girls, boys had lower scores in their knowledge of tobacco hazards; and this factor was significantly related to their SHS avoidance (β = 0.13-0.14).ConclusionsThe intervention program should enhance school children do actively avoid exposure to SHS in home settings, and more importantly, provide tobacco hazard knowledge to male students to avoid exposure to household SHS for themselves. The results also provide further evidence that Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act should perhaps be extended to the family environment in order to protect children from the hazards of household SHS exposure.

School‐level contextual factors associated with betel quid chewing among schoolchildren in Taiwan

OBJECTIVES Previous to this research, no literature had explored the clustering of betel quid chewing at the school-level and the contextual factors contributing to this behavior among elementary schoolchildren. This study therefore examines this in clusters stratified according to school geography and the rate of aboriginal students in each school. Individual-level characteristics are controlled in the study. METHODS The data used derive from student and parent surveys of the School Smoking Survey Project from a sampling of third and fourth grade children from 13 elementary schools in Tao-Yuan County, Taiwan (n = 1585). The individual- and school-level characteristics regarding betel quid chewing were estimated using multi-level logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Compared to their counterparts, students attending schools with higher percentages of aboriginal students (OR = 3.60, 95% CI: 1.31-9.95), or those schools located in a mountainous region (OR = 2.82, 95% CI: 1.19-6.70), were found to have a greater risk of chewing behavior. Other observed characteristics having a significant relationship to student chewing behavior were drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS The new findings from this study suggest that the specific school attended is an important point of intervention. Therefore, effective policies and preventive programs should be strongly considered for implementation in schools that are putting students at the greatest risk for betel quid chewing behavior. Our study also confirmed the relationship between betel quid chewing, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking, suggesting that multifaceted intervention strategies need to be considered in regard to such behaviors among elementary schoolchildren.