QUANTIFYING THE HUMANISTIC BURDEN OF SMOKING AND EXPLORING ISSUES RELATED TO WORKPLACE-BASED SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAMS IN SINGAPORE

SMOKING IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY, AND IS A COSTLY PROBLEM WORLDWIDE. WHILE THE HEALTH AND ECONOMIC BURDEN OF SMOKING IS WELL KNOWN, MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE TO EVALUATE ITS HUMANISTIC BURDEN. TO COPE WITH THE BURDEN, WE THINK THAT THE WORKPLACE IS IDEAL AS A SETTING TO PROMOTE SMOKING CESSATION. HOWEVER, THE UPTAKE RATE OF WORKPLACE-BASED SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAMS (WPSCP) IN SINGAPORE IS DISMAL ACCORDING TO COMMUNICATIONS BY THE LOCAL HEALTH PROMOTION BOARD. THEREFORE, IN THE FIRST PART OF THIS THESIS, WE EVALUATED THE ASSOCIATION OF SMOKING STATUS WITH HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQOL) IN A MULTIETHNIC SINGAPORE POPULATION. IN THE SECOND PART OF THIS THESIS, WE ATTEMPTED TO UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES SURROUNDING LOW UPTAKE RATE WPSCP AND TO PROVIDE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. FINALLY, A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS WAS CARRIED OUT TO SUPPORT A BUSINESS CASE FOR WPSCP.

Author dc:creator

• GAN HUA PEY

• Smoking, Workplace, Health-related quality of life, Barriers, Benefit, Cost