Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Jessica Qian, Professor Julia Critchley
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Background: Smoking remains very common in Chinese men, and the economic burden caused by cigarette consumption on smokers and their families may be substantial. Using a large nationally representative household survey, the third National Health Services Survey (NHSS, 2003), we estimated the economic impact of smoking on households. Methods: Smoking status of all household members (over 15 years) was collected by interview for the NHSS, and households classified into one of seven categories based on their smoking status. Information on household income and expenditure, and use of health services was also obtained. We assessed both the "direct'' costs (reducing funds available for spending on other commodities such as food, education, medical care, etc, using a fractional logit model), and "indirect costs'' (increasing medical expenditures, using a log-linear model). Results: Every five packets of cigarettes consumed per capita per month reduces household spending on other commodities, most notably on education (by about 17 yuan per capita per annum) and medical care (11 yuan). The effects are greatest among low-income rural households. Households with quitters spend substantially more on medical care than never-smoking households (64 yuan for households with two or more quitters). Conclusions: If a household member smokes, there is less money available for commodities such as education and medical care. Medical care expenditure is substantially higher among households with quitters, as ill-health is the main reason for quitting smoking in China. Smoking impoverishes a substantial number of poorer rural households.
Author(s): Xin Y, Qian J, Xu L, Tang S, Gao J, Critchley JA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Tobacco Control
Year: 2009
Volume: 18
Issue: 2
Pages: 150-155
ISSN (print): 0964-4563
ISSN (electronic): 1468-3318
Publisher: BMJ Group
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tc.2008.026955
DOI: 10.1136/tc.2008.026955
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
