Institutional smoking bans for reducing smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption

Review objective: The objectives of this new review are twofold. The proposed new review will explore evidence specifically focusing on the impact of institutional smoking bans in workplaces, health care facilities and in other public places, so-called meso-level data. The update of the original review will assess the evidence since the last review and expand it to include more explicit smoking-related chronic disease endpoints. The public health importance of restricting passive smoke exposure is now accepted and many policy initiatives have been undertaken to impose bans at country, region and local settings level. In epidemiological terms, the data justifying bans may arise from mechanistic studies or from observational data showing passive smoke exposure as a risk factor for longer-term health outcomes. Intervention studies, particularly gold standard randomised controlled trials (RCTs), are not always feasible at national or country level. Since the introduction of legislative smoking bans nationally and internationally, it is essential to identify the impact of this on specific health outcomes including smoking prevalence rates and in tobacco consumption. As the period since the introduction of the bans in the mid-decade increases, other outcomes, including hospital admissions for smoking related conditions, are becoming gradually apparent. 

Award Date

29 September 2013

Award Value

€110,499

Principal Investigator

Dr Kate Frazer

Host Institution

University College Dublin

Scheme

Cochrane Training Fellowships