Changes in smoking and drinking behaviors after the incidence of chronic diseases. (3rd September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Dae-Hwan; Sambou, Matarr O.
• Is Part Of: Addiction research & theory. Volume 27:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 405
• Page End: 411
• Publication Date: 2019-09-03
• Subjects: Chronic diseases -- smoking -- drinking -- two-way fixed effect model; Substance abuse -- Periodicals; Compulsive behavior -- Periodicals; Behavior, Addictive -- Periodicals; Substance-Related Disorders -- Periodicals; 616.86
• DOI: 10.1080/16066359.2018.1538411
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1606-6359

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Individuals who engage in unhealthy behaviors tend to retain them despite knowing that such behaviors are harmful to their health. The present study examined whether the incidence of chronic diseases influences individuals' unhealthy behaviors and whether such effects persist in the long-term. Methods: Empirical analysis was applied to secondary data from the Korean Health Panel (KHP) 2009–2013 and a sample of 35, 996 individuals was utilized. We employed a two-way fixed effect model to control for the endogeneity problem in tracing out how each individual's smoking and drinking behavior changes over time, with the incidence of chronic diseases. Results: The empirical results showed that the odds of quitting smoking and drinking increased by 111.8% (OR = 0.472, P < .01) and 28.7% (OR = 0.777, P < .01), respectively, when healthy persons were diagnosed with a chronic disease. Further, as the number of chronic diseases increased by one, the odds of quitting smoking and drinking increased by 50.6% (OR = 0.664, P < .01) and 15.9% (OR = 0.863, P < .01), respectively, and such effects persisted even in the long-term. Conclusion: These findings imply that individuals change their unhealthy behaviors to healthy ones when they experience an increase in the number of chronic diseases.