Health-related quality of life and economic burden to smoking behaviour among Canadians.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to: (1) examine whether the smoking status of the Canadian population is associated with a reduction in health-related quality of life (HRQoL); (2) calculate the overall economic burden of loss in HRQoL using a commonly accepted $100,000 willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold to gain one quality-adjusted life year (QALY); and (3) calculate the loss of HRQoL over a lifetime.

Methods: We used the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey. The variations in HRQoL were estimated using a multivariable generalized linear model.

The effects of cigarette price and the amount of pocket money on youth smoking initiation and intensity in Canada.

Objectives: To investigate the price and income elasticities of adolescent smoking initiation and intensity to determine the extent to which increased pocket money leads to greater smoking among youth, and whether higher taxes can mitigate this effect.

Methods: We used the 2012/2013 Canadian Youth Smoking Survey including students in grades 7-12. The multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the probability of smoking initiation, and a linear regression to examine the smoking intensity determined by province-level prices of cigarettes, pocket money, and a vector of individual characteristics, including age, sex, race, and school-related and psychosocial factors.