Sarah O Nogueira1, Marcela Fu1, Alessandra Lugo2, Olena Tigova3, Elisabet Henderson4, María José López5, Luke Clancy6, Sean Semple7, Joan B Soriano8, Esteve Fernandez9, Silvano Gallus2. 1. Institut Catala d'Oncologia (ICO), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Institut d'Investigacio Biomedica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain. 2. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy. 3. Institut Catala d'Oncologia (ICO), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain. 4. Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 5. Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Sant Pau Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain. 6. TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland, TU Dublin, Ireland. 7. Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom. 8. Consortium for Biomedical Research in Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain; Hospital Universitario La Princesa (IISP), Madrid, Spain. 9. Institut Catala d'Oncologia (ICO), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Institut d'Investigacio Biomedica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain; Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: efernandez@iconcologia.net.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: European countries differ considerably in the scope and the extent of their policies to protect people from the harms of secondhand smoke exposure. Public opinion may have a substantial influence on several stages of policy development, implementation, and compliance. For this reason, we aimed to evaluate the population level of support for smoke-free policies and its correlates. METHODS: We used data from the TackSHS Survey (2017-2018), a cross-sectional study with representative samples of the general population aged ≥15 years from 12 European countries. We described the proportion of non-smokers' and smokers' support for the implementation of smoke-free legislation in 14 indoor and outdoor settings and the country-level characteristics associated with it. RESULTS: In the total sample (n = 11,902), support for smoke-free legislation were the lowest for restaurants/bar patios (non-smokers = 53.0%; smokers = 29.2%) and the highest for workplaces (non-smokers = 78.5%; smokers = 66.5%). In the country-level analysis, the highest support among non-smokers was for workplaces in Bulgaria (93.1%) and the lowest for restaurants/bars patios in Greece (39.4%). Among smokers, the corresponding estimates were for children's playgrounds in Latvia (88.9%) and for cars in Portugal (21%). For most settings, support for smoke-free legislation was directly related with the countries' prevalence of secondhand smoke presence and reported smoking in each setting. DISCUSSION: Our results show that the majority of European adults (including a large proportion of smokers) are supportive of implementing smoke-free legislation in indoor settings and extending it to selected outdoor settings. Such expressive support can be seen as an opportunity to advance legislation and protect the European population from secondhand smoke exposure.
BACKGROUND: European countries differ considerably in the scope and the extent of their policies to protect people from the harms of secondhand smoke exposure. Public opinion may have a substantial influence on several stages of policy development, implementation, and compliance. For this reason, we aimed to evaluate the population level of support for smoke-free policies and its correlates. METHODS: We used data from the TackSHS Survey (2017-2018), a cross-sectional study with representative samples of the general population aged ≥15 years from 12 European countries. We described the proportion of non-smokers' and smokers' support for the implementation of smoke-free legislation in 14 indoor and outdoor settings and the country-level characteristics associated with it. RESULTS: In the total sample (n = 11,902), support for smoke-free legislation were the lowest for restaurants/bar patios (non-smokers = 53.0%; smokers = 29.2%) and the highest for workplaces (non-smokers = 78.5%; smokers = 66.5%). In the country-level analysis, the highest support among non-smokers was for workplaces in Bulgaria (93.1%) and the lowest for restaurants/bars patios in Greece (39.4%). Among smokers, the corresponding estimates were for children's playgrounds in Latvia (88.9%) and for cars in Portugal (21%). For most settings, support for smoke-free legislation was directly related with the countries' prevalence of secondhand smoke presence and reported smoking in each setting. DISCUSSION: Our results show that the majority of European adults (including a large proportion of smokers) are supportive of implementing smoke-free legislation in indoor settings and extending it to selected outdoor settings. Such expressive support can be seen as an opportunity to advance legislation and protect the European population from secondhand smoke exposure.
Authors: Al Asyary; Meita Veruswati; La Ode Hasnuddin S Sagala; La Ode Ahmad Saktiansyah; Dewi Susanna; Hanns Moshammer Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-11-25 Impact factor: 3.390