Quit history, intentions to quit, and reasons for considering quitting among tobacco users in India: findings from the Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation India Wave 1 Survey.

BACKGROUND: Global Adult Tobacco Survey India 2009-2010 revealed that more than one-third (35%) of adults in India use tobacco in some form: 21% use smokeless tobacco, 9% smoke, and 5% are mixed users (they smoke and use smokeless tobacco), and the quit rate is very low. In an effort to decrease prevalence of tobacco use, it is thus important to understand the factors that are related to intention to quit among Indian tobacco users. Research has shown consistently that intention to quit is a strong predictor of future quitting. The present study reports the factors encouraging quitting tobacco products in India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional data from Wave 1 of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation India Survey conducted in four cities and surrounding rural areas (i.e. Mumbai [Maharashtra], Patna [Bihar], Indore [Madhya Pradesh], and Kolkata [West Bengal]) between August 2010 and December 2011 were analyzed. A total of 8051 tobacco users (15+ years) were randomly sampled from 8586 households: 1255 smokers, 5991 smokeless users, and 805 mixed (smoke and smokeless) users. Validated, standardized questions were asked about current tobacco use, intention to quit, and factors encouraging quitting. RESULTS: Overall, 19.6% of tobacco users intended to quit. Smokers had less intention to quit as compared to smokeless tobacco users whereas mixed users had more intention to quit (odds ratio [OR] =1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.12-1.97) compared to smokeless tobacco users. Highly educated people were more likely to report intention to quit (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.09-3.02) compared to less educated. Advice by doctors to quit tobacco had a strong impact on intention to quit (OR = 1.68, CI = 1.29-2.15). Tobacco users who were exposed to antitobacco messages at work places (OR = 1.74, CI = 1.23-2.46), at restaurants (OR = 1.65, CI = 1.12-2.43), bars (OR = 1.81, CI = 1.07-3.06), on public transportation (OR = 2.14, CI = 1.49-3.08) and on tobacco packages (OR = 1.77, CI = 1.29-2.14) also expressed greater intention to quit tobacco use. CONCLUSION: Around one-fifth of tobacco users in India intended to quit tobacco use. Higher education, doctor's advice, and antitobacco messages were positively associated with users' intention to quit tobacco.

The relation between price and daily consumption of cigarettes and bidis: findings from the Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Wave 1 Survey.

CONTEXT: In India, 14% of the population use smoked tobacco products. Increasing prices of these products is one of the measures to curb their consumption. AIMS: This study analyzes "unit price" and "daily consumption" of cigarettes and bidis and investigates their relation with each other. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in four states of India (Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra) as a part of the International Tobacco Control Policy (TCP) Evaluation Project (the TCP India Project) during 2010-2011. METHODS: Information was collected from adult (aged ≥ 15) daily exclusive smokers of cigarette/bidi regarding (a) last purchase (purchase in pack/loose, brand and price) and (b) daily consumption. Average unit price and daily consumption was calculated for different brands and states. Regression model was used to assess the impact of price on daily consumption. RESULTS: Bidis were much less expensive ([symbol in text]0.39) than cigarettes ([symbol in text]3.1). The daily consumption was higher (14) among bidi smokers than cigarette smokers (8). The prices and daily consumption of bidis ([symbol in text]0.33-0.43; 12-15) and cigarettes ([symbol in text]2.9-3.6; 5-9) varied across the four states. The unit prices of bidis and cigarettes did not influence their daily consumption. Smokers purchasing bidis in packs paid substantially less per unit and purchase of bidis and cigarettes in packs influenced their consumption positively. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarettes although more expensive than bidis, seem very cheap if compared internationally. Hence, prices of both cigarettes and bidis do not influence their consumption.

Intention to quit among Indian tobacco users: findings from International Tobacco Control Policy evaluation India pilot survey.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco users face barriers not just in quitting, but also in thinking about quitting. The aim of this study was to understand factors encouraging intention to quit from the 2006 International Tobacco Control Policy (TCP) Evaluation India Pilot Study Survey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 764 adult respondents from urban and rural areas of Maharashtra and Bihar were surveyed through face-to-face individual interviews, with a house-to-house approach. Dependent variable was "intention to quit tobacco." Independent variables were demographic variables, peer influence, damage perception, receiving advice to quit, and referral to cessation services by healthcare professionals and exposure to anti-tobacco messages. Logistic regression model was used with odds ratio adjusted for location, age, gender, and marital status for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of 493 tobacco users, 32.5% intended to quit. More numbers of users who were unaware about their friends' tobacco use intended to quit compared to those who were aware (adjusted OR = 8.06, 95% CI = 4.58-14.19). Higher numbers of users who felt tobacco has damaged their health intended to quit compared to those who did not feel that way (adjusted OR = 5.62, 95% CI = 3.53-8.96). More numbers of users exposed to anti-tobacco messages in newspapers/magazines (adjusted OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.02-3.03), restaurants (adjusted OR = 2.47, 95% CI = 1.37-4.46), radio (adjusted OR=4.84, 95% CI = 3.01-7.78), cinema halls (adjusted OR = 9.22, 95% CI = 5.31-15.75), and public transportation (adjusted OR = 10.58, 95% = 5.90-18.98) intended to quit compared to unexposed users. CONCLUSION: Anti-tobacco messages have positive influence on user's intentions to quit.

Design considerations for refractive solid immersion lens: application to subsurface integrated circuit fault localization using laser induced techniques.

With fast scaling and advancement of integrated circuit (IC) technology, circuitries have become smaller and denser. New materials and more sophisticated designs have evolved. These changes reduced the effectiveness of conventional laser induced fault localization techniques. Since IC fault localization is the most critical step in failure analysis, there are strong motivations to improve both spatial resolution and sensitivity of such systems to meet the new challenges from advanced technology. Refractive solid immersion lens (RSIL) is well known to enhance the laser spot size which directly affects resolution and sensitivity in back side fault localizations. In practice, it is difficult to operate RSIL at the ideal configurations to obtain the smallest spot resolution. It is necessary to understand the resolution performance at the other design focal planes. Besides resolution, there are also other factors that affect sensitivity in a RSIL enhanced system. This paper identifies and characterizes key RSIL design parameters to optimize RSIL performance on laser induced techniques. We report that the most efficient conditions are achieved close to aplanatic RSIL design to within 20-25 microm (for a 1 mm diameter lens), and the backing objective should be the minimum numerical aperture required for optimum resolution performance. The size of the mechanical clear aperture opening should be large enough (>80%) to exploit the advantage of aplanatic RSIL. RSIL is developed on a laser scanning optical microscope in this work, and a resolution of 0.3 microm (for a wavelength of 1340 nm) was achieved over a range of operating conditions. A quantitative resolution of 0.25 microm is achieved and a pitch structure of 0.4 microm is easily resolvable. Close to 15 times enhancement in laser induced signal is obtained.