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. 2020 Jan 7;17(2):398.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17020398.

Improving Knowledge that Alcohol Can Cause Cancer is Associated with Consumer Support for Alcohol Policies: Findings from a Real-World Alcohol Labelling Study

Ashini Weerasinghe  1 , Nour Schoueri-Mychasiw  1 , Kate Vallance  2 , Tim Stockwell  2 , David Hammond  3 , Jonathan McGavock  4 , Thomas K Greenfield  5 , Catherine Paradis  6 , Erin Hobin  1
Affiliations

Improving Knowledge that Alcohol Can Cause Cancer is Associated with Consumer Support for Alcohol Policies: Findings from a Real-World Alcohol Labelling Study

Ashini Weerasinghe et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Knowledge that alcohol can cause cancer is low in Canada. Alcohol labels are one strategy for communicating alcohol-related harms, including cancer. Extending existing research observing an association between knowledge of the alcohol-cancer link and support for alcohol policies, this study examined whether increases in individual-level knowledge that alcohol is a carcinogen following an alcohol labelling intervention are associated with support for alcohol polices. Cancer warning labels were applied to alcohol containers at the intervention site, and the comparison site did not apply cancer labels. Pre-post surveys were conducted among liquor store patrons at both sites before and two-and six-months after the intervention was stopped due to alcohol industry interference. Limiting the data to participants that completed surveys both before and two-months after the cancer label stopped, logistic regression was used to examine the association between increases in knowledge and support for policies. Support for pricing and availability policies was low overall; however, increases in individual-level knowledge of the alcohol-cancer link was associated with higher levels of support for pricing policies, specifically, setting a minimum unit price per standard drink of alcohol (OR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.11-3.12). Improving knowledge that alcohol can cause cancer using labels may increase support for alcohol policies. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/16320.

Keywords: alcohol; alcohol policy; alcohol warning labels; cancer prevention.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest with the exception of Tim Stockwell, who received research funds and travel expenses from both the Swedish (Systembolaget) and Finnish (ALKO) government retail alcohol monopolies for the conduct of research into the impacts of their policies on alcohol consumption and related harm, T. K. Greenfield whose research has been partially supported by the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA), and Catherine Paradis who received funds from Educ’alcool from 2008–2014. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Intervention alcohol warning labels (actual size 5.0 cm × 3.2 cm): (a) Label 1: Cancer Warning; (b) Label 2: Canada’s Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines; (c) Label 3: Standard Drink Information (example for wine). Note: Alcohol containers sold in the liquor store in the intervention site were labelled with one of the three labels displayed in Figure 1.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Level of support for alcohol policies from participants’ last survey wave completed. Percent missing varies from 1.16% to 1.56% for seven policy measures. Note: DK = Don’t know, PNS = Prefer not to say.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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