ASPO Abstracts

The role of public health communication in addressing socioeconomic and residence-based disparities in health risk perceptions of smoking: findings from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey of Ethiopia

Authors: Bekalu, MA.; Gundersen, DA.; Viswanath, K.

Category: Behavioral Science & Health Communication
Conference Year: 2020

Abstract Body:
Purpose: To examine whether disparities in risk perceptions exist across population subgroups, and whether and how public health communication has a role in addressing such disparities. Methods: Drawing from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey of Ethiopia (GATS 2016), we examined if health risk perceptions of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure varied across socioeconomic and urban vs. rural population subgroups. We also examined whether and how exposure to anti-smoking messages is associated with disparities in health risk perceptions across socioeconomic and urban vs. rural population subgroups. We conducted bivariate analyses and fitted logistic regression models with interaction terms using Complex Samples analytic procedures in IBM SPSS version 20. Results: Health risk perceptions of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure were significantly lower among rural, less educated and less affluent population subgroups compared to their urban, more educated and more affluent counterparts. Controlling for age, gender, education, wealth, place of residence, and exposure to pro-smoking messages, exposure to anti-smoking messages was associated with greater perceptions of the health risks of smoking (OR, 3.75; 95%CI, 1.41 -10.02). Moreover, exposure to anti-smoking messages moderated the associations of place of residence and education with risk perceptions of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, respectively. The change in the probability of risk perception of smoking associated with exposure to anti-smoking messages was more pronounced among the rural populace compared to urbanites. Similarly, the change in the probability of risk perception of secondhand smoke exposure associated with exposure to anti-smoking messages was most pronounced among individuals without formal education compared to those with some education. Conclusions: There are socioeconomic- and residence-based disparities in health risk perceptions of tobacco use, but such disparities may be tackled by targeted public health communications.

Keywords: Anti-Tobacco Communication; Disparities