Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the opinions of a group of high school students in Ankara on the pictorial warnings on cigarette packages.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 294 students studying ninth, tenth and eleventh classes of a high school in Ankara were included. The students were shown 14 different warnings, and asked to record whether they considered each to be ‘not effective', ‘could be effective' or ‘highly effective' in encouraging people to quit smoking.

RESULTS: In general, the pictorial warnings did not prove to be very effective. They were deemed ‘not effective' by 33-81% of students, whereas only 2.4-37.4% marked the various warnings as ‘highly effective'. The two pictures marked as least effective included “get help to stop smoking” and “your doctor or your pharmacist can help you stop smoking”. The figures judged as highly effective included the picture on impotence (37.4%), “smoking when pregnant harms your baby” (26.2%) and “smoking causes fatal lung cancer” (24.8%). Male students considered the warning about impotence to be more effective than females, and conversely, female students considered the warning about pregnancy to be more effective than males.

CONCLUSION: The deterrents on cigarette packages were judged by students to be generally ineffective, highlighting the need for their replacement with more effective warnings.