Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33565612›Full record

ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2021

Who would be targeted by increasing the legal age of sale of cigarettes from 18 to 21? A cross-sectional study exploring the number and characteristics of smokers in England.

Emma Beard, Jamie Brown, Sarah E Jackson, Robert West, Will Anderson, Deborah Arnott, Lion Shahab

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Emma BeardDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8586-1261
Jamie BrownDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2797-5428
Sarah E JacksonDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5658-6168
Robert WestDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6398-0921
Will AndersonAction on Smoking and Health (ASH), London, UK.
Deborah ArnottAction on Smoking and Health (ASH), London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7116-0974
Lion ShahabDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4033-442X
University College London · GBAction on Smoking and Health · GBUniversity of Nottingham · GB

Funding

Cancer Research UK 22962
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsTo establish the number of smokers in England who would be targeted by increasing the age of sale of cigarettes from 18 to 21 years and to assess the smoking and socio-demographic profile of those smokers. DESIGN AND

settingNationally representative cross-sectional survey of adults in England conducted between January 2009 and July 2019.

participantsA total of 219 720 adults. MEASUREMENTS: All participants reported their current smoking status and socio-demographic characteristics (i.e. age, gender, home ownership, social grade and ethnicity). Smokers reported motivation to quit, urges to smoke and the Heaviness of Smoking Index (HIS). Weighted prevalence statistics were calculated. Multinomial regression and logistic regression were used to assess differences in smoking characteristics among smokers and socio-demographic characteristics relative to non-smokers.

findingsThe prevalence of smoking between January 2009 and July 2019 was highest among those aged 21-30. In 2019, 15.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 12.8-18.8%] of 18-20-year-olds reported smoking, which is estimated to represent 364 000 individuals in England. Relative to smokers aged 18-20, older smokers (aged 21+) had a higher motivation to quit smoking [odds ratios (ORs) = 1.40-1.45 range] and higher nicotine dependency as measured by urges to smoke (ORs = 1.06-1.24 range) and HSI (ORs = 1.05-2.85 range). Compared with non-smokers aged 18-20, smokers in this age group had lower odds of being female (OR = 0.89) and higher odds of being of white ethnicity (OR = 2.78) and from social grades C1-E (lower social grades) compared with AB (higher social grades) (OR = 1.19-1.83 range).

conclusionIncreasing the age of sale of cigarettes to 21 years in England would currently target approximately 364 000 lower dependent smokers from more disadvantaged backgrounds aged 18-20, who have less motivation to quit.

Indexed as

Smoking CessationTobacco ProductsAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornSmokersSmokingAge of saleEnglandpolicysmokingtobacco controlyouth

Identifiers

PMID33565612
PMCPMC8436755
OpenAlexW3129140193

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.