German Public Support for Tobacco Control Policy Measures: Results from the German Study on Tobacco Use (DEBRA), a Representative National Survey.

Melanie Boeckmann,Daniel Kotz,Lion Shahab,Jamie Brown,Sabrina Kastaun

doi:10.3390/ijerph15040696

Abstract

Smoking prevalence in Germany remains high at approximately 28%. We assessed public support for tobacco legislation and associations between level of support and smoking and socio-demographic characteristics. Data from 2087 people were collected as part of the German Study on Tobacco Use (“DEBRA”): a nationally representative, face-to-face household survey. Public support was measured on total ban of sale, raising the minimum age for sales, taxation of tobacco industry sales, research into e-cigarettes, and ban of smoking in cars when children are present. Associations were assessed with multivariate logistic regression. Over 50% of the German population support taxing industry profits (57.3%) and assessing e-cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking (55.5%). Over 40% support raising the legal age of sale (43.1%), and 22.9% support a total ban on tobacco sales. A smoking ban in cars when children are present was most popular (71.5%), even among current smokers (67.0%). There is public support for stricter tobacco control measures in Germany. A smoking ban in cars when children are present could be a feasible policy to implement.

Highlights

Tobacco smoking is highly addictive and a major risk factor for mortality and morbidity.Compared with other high-income European countries, smoking prevalence in Germany is high at approximately 28% [1], and 14% of the country’s mortality can be attributed to smoking [2]
We found no associations between sex, education, or household income and support for policy measures
Never-smokers and ex-smokers were significantly more likely to indicate their support for a total ban on tobacco sales than current smokers (odds ratio (OR) 5.26, CI 3.80–7.28 and OR 3.48, CI 2.37–5.11, respectively)

Summary

Introduction

Tobacco smoking is highly addictive and a major risk factor for mortality and morbidity. Compared with other high-income European countries, smoking prevalence in Germany is high at approximately 28% [1], and 14% of the country’s mortality can be attributed to smoking [2]. 120,000 people in Germany die from tobacco-related illness each year [2], and second-hand smoke exposure for children and adolescents, while reduced over the past decades, remains a problem [3], in families with lower incomes and a poorer educational background [4]. It is estimated that up to 27% of all hospitalisations for diagnoses of asthma, respiratory diseases, or otitis media in children younger than five years can be attributed to passive smoking [5].

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