Publications by authors named "Angus K"

Background And Aims: Public perceptions of alcohol and its related harms and policies are shaped by multiple discourses and can influence behaviour and policy support. As part of a FrameWorks-informed project to test framing approaches to improve public understanding and support for evidence-based alcohol policies in the UK, this research aimed to (i) summarise relevant evidence; (ii) compare how public understanding of alcohol harms differs from those of academic and charity experts; and (iii) develop novel framing approaches.

Methods: (1) a literature review including systematic, scoping and targeted components to understand previous evidence on effective framing from behaviour change, UK alcohol policy and FrameWorks literatures; (2) comparison of public views of alcohol harms and policies from four focus groups (n = 20) with those of public health experts; (3) an iterative process involving workshops and stakeholder consultation to develop 12 novel framing approaches.

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Background: Given that college life is a major life-changing and stressful event for many young adults, they may use e-cigarettes to manage their stress, which in the long run could be detrimental to their health. Furthermore, perceived social support and self-esteem are important factors that might influence young adults' e-cigarette use behavior. This cross-sectional study examines the associations of perceived stress, social support, and self-esteem with e-cigarette use among U.

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Purpose: Smoke-free prison policies have been introduced in some countries, in part to address very high levels of tobacco use in people in prison. However, relapse rates post-release remain high. This papers aims to improve understanding of post-release smoking and/or vaping behaviour is necessary to inform support for a priority population.

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Introduction: The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) 2016 require consumers in the United Kingdom to be informed about the presence of nicotine in vaping products. However, there is misunderstanding among some young people and adults around the strength of products. We examined how nicotine content is displayed on the front of vape packaging in the United Kingdom.

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Background: Migration to Scotland has increased since 2002 with an increase in European residents and participation in the Asylum dispersal scheme. Scotland has become more ethnically diverse, and 10% of the current population were born abroad. Migration and ethnicity are determinants of health, and information on the health status of migrants to Scotland and their access to and barriers to care facilitates the planning and delivery of equitable health services.

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Background: Debate is ongoing about mandating COVID-19 vaccination to maximise uptake. Policymakers must consider whether to mandate, for how long, and in which contexts, taking into account not only legal and ethical questions but also public opinion. Implementing mandates among populations who oppose them could be counterproductive.

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Importance: There is widespread interest in the effect of food marketing on children; however, the comprehensive global evidence reviews are now dated.

Objective: To quantify the association of food and nonalcoholic beverage marketing with behavioral and health outcomes in children and adolescents to inform updated World Health Organization guidelines.

Data Sources: Twenty-two databases were searched (including MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, and The Cochrane Library) with a publication date limit from January 2009 through March 2020.

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Background: There is a higher incidence of cardiac arrest in economically deprived areas; however, data show that bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in those areas is lower. This results in lower survival rates, placing those communities at a double disadvantage. This systematic review explored the barriers and facilitators to engaging with bystander CPR in deprived communities.

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Objectives: To examine public views on COVID-19 vaccination and consider the implications for communications and targeted support.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Online and telephone nationally representative survey in Great Britain, January to February 2021.

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Introduction: Alcohol consumption ranks among the top ten risk factors contributing to the global disease burden. Several international organizations recommend the use of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test to screen for at-risk drinkers. However, a fully validated Portuguese version of this test is lacking.

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Standardized packaging of tobacco products has now been fully implemented in 15 countries. However, there is limited evidence, apart from in Australia, on how consumers have responded to the policy. Two systematic reviews explored consumer, tobacco industry and retailer response to standardized packaging in the United Kingdom (UK), which became mandatory for cigarettes (factory-made and hand-rolled) from May 2017, following a twelve-month transition period.

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Introduction: The advertising of e-cigarettes in the UK is regulated through the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations, with further rules set out in the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Committees of Advertising (CAP) Code. Focusing on the ASA CAP Code Rules, we examined e-cigarette advertising regulation compliance in traditional advertising channels and on social media.

Methods: We conducted a content analysis of UK e-cigarette and related product advertising using a randomly selected sample (n = 130) of advertising in traditional channels and on Instagram which appeared between January and December 2019.

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Background: Alcohol is a leading risk factor contributing to the global burden of disease. Several national and international agencies recommend that screening and brief interventions (SBI) should be routinely delivered in primary care settings to reducing patients' alcohol consumption. However, evidence shows that such activities are seldom implemented in practice.

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Background: Despite the clear policy intent to contain it, the marketing of formula milk remains widespread, powerful and successful. This paper examines how it works.

Methods: The study comprised a mix of secondary analysis of business databases and qualitative interviews with marketing practitioners, some of whom had previously worked in formula marketing.

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Study Aim: Rates of out of hospital cardiac arrest are higher in deprived communities. Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (BCPR) can double the chance of survival but occurs less often in these communities in comparison to more affluent communities. People living in deprived communities are, therefore, doubly disadvantaged and there is limited evidence to explain why BCPR rates are lower.

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Introduction: Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in pregnancy leads to an increased risk of stillbirths, congenital malformations, and low birth weight. There is a lack of evidence about how best to achieve reductions in SHS exposure among nonsmoking pregnant women. This work systematically reviews individual or household interventions to reduce pregnant women's exposure to SHS.

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Enabling parents to create a smoke-free home is one of the key ways that children's exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) can be reduced. Smoke-free home interventions have largely targeted mothers who smoke, and there is little understanding of the barriers and facilitators that fathers experience in creating a smoke-free home. Systematic searches combining terms for fathers, homes, and SHS exposure were run in April 2019 in Web of Science's Citation Indices, PsycINFO, and PubMed for English-language studies published since 2008.

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Background: Taking regular exercise, whether cardiovascular-type exercise or resistance exercise, may help people to give up smoking, particularly by reducing cigarette withdrawal symptoms and cravings, and by helping to manage weight gain.

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of exercise-based interventions alone, or combined with a smoking cessation programme, for achieving long-term smoking cessation, compared with a smoking cessation intervention alone or other non-exercise intervention.

Search Methods: We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Specialised Register for studies, using the term 'exercise' or 'physical activity' in the title, abstract or keywords.

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Background: Direct Acting Antiviral (DAAs) drugs have a much lower burden of treatment and monitoring requirements than regimens containing interferon and ribavirin, and a much higher efficacy in treating hepatitis C (HCV). These characteristics mean that initiating treatment and obtaining a virological cure (Sustained Viral response, SVR) on completion of treatment, in non-specialist environments should be feasible. We investigated the English-language literature evaluating community and primary care-based pathways using DAAs to treat HCV infection.

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The tobacco market has been transformed by the arrival of e-cigarettes and array of alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS). Public health has struggled to cope with these changes and clear divisions are apparent, but less is known about the tobacco industry (TI) response. This first empirical study to examine TI and independent ANDS companies' business strategies fills this gap.

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Background And Aims: Tobacco companies claimed that standardized packaging, phased in/introduced May 2016-May 2017, would reduce prices and increase consumption. We: (1) describe changes in price-per-cigarette and price-per-gram during, and after, the introduction of standardized packaging; (2) describe price changes by cigarette price segment; and (3) analyse price changes by stage of implementation.

Design: An observational study, using electronic point-of-sale data, monitored price trends in three periods: (1) May-September 2016, start of transition period; (2) October 2016-May 2017, when fully branded and standardized products were sold and duty escalators implemented; and (3) June-October 2017, when standardized packaging was mandatory.

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Introduction: Although many workers are protected from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS), home health and community care workers enter domestic settings where SHS is commonly present. Little is known about the extent of SHS exposure among this occupational group.

Methods: A rapid review to examine the literature on home health and community care workers' exposure to SHS at work and identify research gaps.

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Background: A key determinant of survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is bystander cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which can more than double an individual's chances of surviving to discharge from hospital. The experience of other international OHCA survival programmes has shown that increasing bystander CPR is strongly associated with an increase in overall survival. However, existing data suggest that the more economically deprived an area is the higher the incidence of cardiac arrest.

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