Van Hurck, M. M., Nuyts, P. A. W., Monshouwer, K., Kunst, A. E., & Kuipers, M. A. G. (2019). Impact of removing point-of-sale tobacco displays on smoking behaviour among adolescents in Europe: a quasi-experimental study. Tobacco control, 28(4), 401–408. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054271
Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Policy/Guideline (National),
Intervention Description: An increasing number of European countries implemented a point-of-sale (PoS) display ban on tobacco products. A point-of-sale (PoS) display ban is a tobacco control policy that prohibits the display of tobacco products at the point of sale, such as in retail stores. The ban aims to reduce the visibility and promotion of tobacco products in retail environments, particularly to young people, and to de-normalize tobacco use. This study assessed the association between PoS display bans in Europe and adolescent smoking and perceived accessibility of tobacco, 2-6 years after PoS display ban implementation.
Intervention Results: The implementation of a PoS display ban was associated with a 15% larger drop in the odds of regular smoking (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.91), but was not significantly associated with perceived accessibility of tobacco (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.892 to 1.03). Associations were similar in males and females (cross-level interactions of gender with display ban were not statistically significant for either outcome).
Conclusion: The implementation of PoS display bans in Europe was associated with a stronger decrease in regular smoking among adolescents. This decrease does not appear to be driven by a decreasing accessibility of tobacco, but might be caused by further de-normalisation of tobacco as a result of PoS display bans.
Study Design: Quasi-experimental design
Setting: Data pulled from European survey (specifically Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden)
Population of Focus: Policymakers, public health professionals, researchers
Sample Size: 174878 youths
Age Range: ages 15-16
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