What is the association between price and economic activity with cigarette consumption in Cuba from 1980 to 2014?

Varona-Perez*, Patricia; Bridges, Sarah; Lorenzo-Vazquez, Elba; Suarez-Medina, Ramon; Venero-Fernandez, Silvia-Josefina; Langley, Tessa; Britton, John; Fogarty, Andrew W.

Abstract

Objectives: Cuba is a tobacco producing country that has been economically isolated as a consequence of an embargo imposed by the USA, and has also experienced a severe economic depression in the 1990s after the withdrawal of support by the former Soviet Union. These characteristics provide a unique opportunity to study the relation between large changes in economic activity, cigarette price and demand for cigarettes in a relatively isolated socialist economy.

Study design: Observational epidemiological study

Methods: Data were obtained on the annual price of a packet of cigarettes and the mean number of cigarettes consumed per adult living in Cuba from 1980 to 2014. Descriptive and regression analysis were used to explore the relationship between cigarette consumption and price in Cuba.

Results: In 1980 the mean price of a packet of cigarettes was 1.53 Cuban peso (CUP) in 1997 prices and the mean annual per capita consumption was 2237 cigarettes. In 2014, the mean price had increased to 5.57 CUP (1997 prices) per packet of cigarettes, and consumption had fallen to 1527 cigarettes per capita. Regression results show that there were significant negative associations between annual consumption and both cigarette price and living through an economic depression. The elasticity was approximately -0.31 with price, and living through an economic depression was also associated with lower consumption of cigarettes (a reduction by 9%, 95% confidence intervals -0.18 to -0.001).

Citation

Varona-Perez*, P., Bridges, S., Lorenzo-Vazquez, E., Suarez-Medina, R., Venero-Fernandez, S.-J., Langley, T., Britton, J., & Fogarty, A. W. (2019). What is the association between price and economic activity with cigarette consumption in Cuba from 1980 to 2014?. Public Health, 173, 126-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.05.014

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 15, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jul 2, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-08
• Deposit Date: Jun 5, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 3, 2020
• Journal: Public Health
• Print ISSN: 0033-3506
• Electronic ISSN: 1476-5616
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 173
• Pages: 126-129
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.05.014
• Keywords: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; General Medicine
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2145532
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350619301611
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: What is the association between price and economic activity with cigarette consumption in Cuba from 1980 to 2014?; Journal Title: Public Health; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.05.014; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Contract Date: Jun 5, 2019