Roberto Valiente1, Francisco Escobar2, Jamie Pearce3, Usama Bilal4, Manuel Franco5, Xisca Sureda6. 1. Public Health and Epidemiology Research Group, School of Medicine, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain; Department of Geology, Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: roberto.valiente@uah.es. 2. Department of Geology, Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: francisco.escobar@uah.es. 3. Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. Electronic address: jamie.pearce@ed.ac.uk. 4. Public Health and Epidemiology Research Group, School of Medicine, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain; Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electronic address: ubilal@drexel.edu. 5. Public Health and Epidemiology Research Group, School of Medicine, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States. Electronic address: mfranco@uah.es. 6. Public Health and Epidemiology Research Group, School of Medicine, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: francisca.sureda@uah.es.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Smoking visibility may affect smoking norms with implications for tobacco initiation, particularly amongst youths. Understanding how smoking is distributed across urban environments would contribute to the design and implementation of tobacco control policies. Our objective is to estimate the visibility of smokers in a large urban area using a novel GIS-based methodological approach. METHODS: We used systematic social observation to gather information about the presence of smokers in the environment within a representative sample of census tracts in Madrid city in 2016. We designed a GIS-based methodology to estimate the visibility of smokers throughout the whole city using the data collected in the fieldwork. Last, we validated our results in a sample of 40 locations distributed across the city through direct observation. RESULTS: We mapped estimates of smokers' visibility across the entire city. The visibility was higher in the central districts and in streets with a high density of hospitality venues, public transportation stops, and retail shops. Peripheral districts, with larger green areas and residential or industrial land uses, showed lower visibility of smokers. Validation analyses found high agreement between the estimated and observed values of smokers' visibility (R = 0.845, p=<0.001). DISCUSSION: GIS-based methods enable the development of novel tools to study the distribution of smokers and their visibility in urban environments. We found differences in the visibility by population density and leisure, retail shops and business activities. The findings can support the development of policies to protect people from smoking.
BACKGROUND: Smoking visibility may affect smoking norms with implications for tobacco initiation, particularly amongst youths. Understanding how smoking is distributed across urban environments would contribute to the design and implementation of tobacco control policies. Our objective is to estimate the visibility of smokers in a large urban area using a novel GIS-based methodological approach. METHODS: We used systematic social observation to gather information about the presence of smokers in the environment within a representative sample of census tracts in Madrid city in 2016. We designed a GIS-based methodology to estimate the visibility of smokers throughout the whole city using the data collected in the fieldwork. Last, we validated our results in a sample of 40 locations distributed across the city through direct observation. RESULTS: We mapped estimates of smokers' visibility across the entire city. The visibility was higher in the central districts and in streets with a high density of hospitality venues, public transportation stops, and retail shops. Peripheral districts, with larger green areas and residential or industrial land uses, showed lower visibility of smokers. Validation analyses found high agreement between the estimated and observed values of smokers' visibility (R = 0.845, p=<0.001). DISCUSSION: GIS-based methods enable the development of novel tools to study the distribution of smokers and their visibility in urban environments. We found differences in the visibility by population density and leisure, retail shops and business activities. The findings can support the development of policies to protect people from smoking.
Authors: Andrea Pastor; Xisca Sureda; Roberto Valiente; Hannah Badland; Macarena García-Dorado; Francisco Escobar Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-07-27 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Leonieke J Breunis; Metehan Bebek; Nazmi Dereci; Marlou L A de Kroon; Márta K Radó; Jasper V Been Journal: Nicotine Tob Res Date: 2021-11-05 Impact factor: 4.244