The Scratch Card Gambler

• Autor(a) principal: Maurício, Daniela Filipa Silvano
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/10703
• topic: Addiction; Pathological Gambling; Scratch Cards; Sogs; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Médicas::Ciências da Saúde::Medicina

Background: Scratch card gambling is a form of lottery highly available throughout the country and has common characteristics with some other addictive gambling activities, such as immediate reward, a short time interval between purchase and prize revelation and easiness to play. In Portugal, this game has had a substantial growth over the last few years, with a fifteen fold increase in revenue over the last 8 years, bringing it to a total of €1594 million in 2018. It’s also important to notice it is a game with almost no regulatory measures for those who play it. Aims: This study aims to describe sociodemographic characteristics, gambling habits and perceptions regarding scratch cards gambling, determine the frequency of pathological scratch card gambling and to find out the possible impact of regulatory measures. Methods: People were approached in several scratch cards reseller shops and invited to participate. A total of 200 people consented to participate and filled in the questionnaire. Pathological gambling was assessed with the South Oaks Gambling Scale (SOGS). Descriptive statistics and inferential analysis were performed using SPSS v22. Results: The frequency of not at-risk scratch card gambling was 48%, potential pathological gambler 33% and probable pathological gambler 19%. 95% played other games, however, 34% had spent a maximum >€10 in a day in scratch cards while only 18% report the same amount of maximum spending in other games (risk ratio: 1,8), and 9% spent a monthly average >€100 in scratch cards while only 3% report such spending with other games (risk ratio: 3.0). Just 2% asked for help regarding scratch card gambling and only 8% mentioned the way they play has a negative impact on their lives. Regarding regulatory measures, 27% said they would play less if ID presentation/recording is to be mandatory and 71% agreed with the possibility of self-exclusion. Conclusions: Our findings are worrying at best. More than half participants are possible pathological gamblers. Scratch cards seem to have a clear potential for higher spending than other games, perception biases regarding scratch cards gambling are frequent and almost no one seeks help. Regulatory measures such as mandatory ID presentation/recording and self-exclusion may have a strong effect mostly for those at higher risk. There is an urgent need to act based on present findings and past warnings regarding scratch cards gambling hazards.