Tobacco policies and changes in the tendency of smoking cessation in cigarette users in Chile: a longitudinal cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE:To assess the impact of tobacco control regulations and policy implementation on smoking cessation tendencies in cigarette users born between 1982 and 1991 in Chile. DESIGN:Longitudinal cross-sectional study. SETTING:National level. PARTICIPANTS:Data from the National Survey of Drug Consumption (Service of Prevention and Rehabilitation for Drug and Alcohol Consumption). A pseudo-cohort of smokers born between 1982 and 1991 (N=17 905) was tracked from 2002 to 2016. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES MEASURES:Primary outcome was the tendency to cease smoking conceptualised as the report of using cigarettes 1 month or more ago relative to using cigarettes in the last 30 days. The main exposure variable was the Tobacco Policy Index-tracking tobacco policy changes over time. Logistic regression, controlling for various factors, was applied. RESULTS:Models suggested a 14% increase in the smoking cessation tendency of individuals using cigarettes 1 month or more ago relative to those using cigarettes in the last 30 days (OR 1.14, CI 95% CI 1.10 to 1.19) for each point increment in the Tobacco Policy index. CONCLUSIONS:Our study contributes to documenting a positive impact of the implementation of interventions considered in the MPOWER strategy in the progression of smoking cessation tendencies in smokers born between 1982 and 1991 in Chile.