Cigarette Design Features in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries

Previous studies have shown that country income grouping is correlated with cigarette engineering. Cigarettes ( N = 111 brands) were purchased during 2008–2010 from 11 low-, middle-, and high-income countries to assess physical dimensions and an array of cigarette design features. Mean ventilation varied significantly across low- (7.5%), middle- (15.3%), and high-income (26.2%) countries ( P ≤ 0.001). Differences across income groups were also seen in cigarette length ( P = 0.001), length of the tipping paper ( P = 0.01), filter weight ( P = 0.017), number of vent rows ( P = 0.003), per-cigarette tobacco weight ( P = 0.04), and paper porosity ( P = 0.008). Stepwise linear regression showed ventilation and tobacco length as major predictors of ISO tar yields in low-income countries ( P = 0.909, 0.047), while tipping paper ( P < 0.001), filter length ( P < 0.001), number of vent rows ( P = 0.014), and per-cigarette weight ( P = 0.015) were predictors of tar yields in middle-income countries. Ventilation ( P < 0.001), number of vent rows ( P = 0.009), per-cigarette weight ( P < 0.001), and filter diameter ( P = 0.004) predicted tar yields in high-income countries. Health officials must be cognizant of cigarette design issues to provide effective regulation of tobacco products.