Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Little is known about the level of awareness of blindness as a smoking-related condition, although the relationship has been well established.

AIM:

To compare the awareness of smoking risks and the impact of graphic health warning labels on cigarette packs in discouraging smoking among adults in Singapore and Scotland.

METHODS:

A cross-sectional survey using a structured interview of adults in ophthalmic, general medical, and general surgical outpatient clinics in Singapore and Scotland.

RESULTS:

One hundred and fifteen out of 163 (70.6%) outpatients in Singapore and 105 out of 112 (93.8%) outpatients in Scotland responded to the study. In both samples, awareness levels for smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, mouth and throat cancer, heart disease, and stroke were all greater than 85%. These were found to be significantly higher than the level of awareness of blindness as a smoking-related condition (chi (2)-test, P<0.001). Although the awareness of blindness as a smoking-related condition was greater in Singapore (36.5%) than in Scotland (30.5%), this difference was not statistically significant. More than half of the respondents indicated that graphic health warning labels would be effective in discouraging them from smoking.

CONCLUSION:

Graphic health warning labels reading 'Smoking causes blindness' printed on cigarette packs may be useful in raising public awareness of blindness as a smoking-related condition and discouraging the habit of smoking in Singapore and Scotland.