Informing outdoor smokefree policy: Methods for measuring the proportion of people smoking in outdoor public areas

Thomson, George; Russell, Marie; Jenkin, Gabrielle; Patel, Vimal; Wilson, Nick

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.11.006

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While there has been a range of studies that have measured the extent of smoking outdoors for particular types of venues such as parks or bus stops [9], there is a lack of research presenting a systematic and comprehensive spatial approach to quantifying visual exposure to health-related behaviours over a relatively large geographic area. Over the past 15–20 years, advances in geographic techniques for automating the measurement and display of viewsheds (visible areas) have facilitated their use in landscape ecology [10], archeology [11], and site selection for minimal visual impact [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring visual exposure to smoking behaviours: a viewshed analysis of smoking at outdoor bars and cafés across a capital city’s downtown area

2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe influence of visual exposure to health-related behaviours, such as smoking, is increasingly acknowledged in the public health literature. Social contagion or normalisation is thought to operate through the visibility of those behaviours. There has been a lack of systematic and comprehensive approaches to quantifying visual exposure to these behaviours over a relatively large geographic area. We describe the novel application of a geographic tool, viewshed analysis, to estimate visual exposure to smoking outside bars/cafés across a downtown area.MethodsSmoking was observed for different times and days of the week at 14 outdoor areas of bars/cafés throughout downtown Wellington, New Zealand. We used these data to extrapolate to other bars/cafés with outdoor seating. We then conducted viewshed analyses to estimate visual exposure to smoking at bars/cafés for all public outdoor spaces.ResultsWe observed a smoking point prevalence of 16%. Visibility analyses indicated that estimated visible smoking was highest in the evenings (7-8 pm), where the average values across Wednesday and Friday ranged from zero up to 92 visible smokers (mean = 1.44). Estimated visible smoking at midday ranged from zero to 13 (mean = 0.27). Values were also higher at the end of the week compared with midweek in the evening. Maps indicate that streets with high levels of retail shops and hospitality areas had high values of estimated visible smokers, particularly in the evening where numbers were consistently above 50.ConclusionsThis paper highlights a useful method for measuring the extent of visual exposure to smoking behaviours across relatively large areas using a geospatial approach. Applying this method in other locations would require consideration of place-specific characteristics which impact on visibility and could be improved through more sophisticated extrapolation of observational data across the study area. The findings of this and similar research could ultimately support the expansion of smokefree public spaces.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring visual exposure to smoking behaviours: a viewshed analysis of smoking at outdoor bars and cafés across a capital city’s downtown area

2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While there has been some published observation of the prevalence of smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, streets, hospital grounds, stadia, near public doorways and on university campuses in North America, England and Australasia (Jancey et al, 2014;Okoli, Johnson, Pederson, Adkins, & Rice, 2013;Thomson, Russell, Jenkin, Patel, & Wilson, 2013), there have been only two studies of the smoking prevalence outside bars/cafés, both in Australia. One study, of a 'purposive sample of 20 pubs and bars within a 7-km radius of the centre' of Melbourne, involving observations on Friday and Saturdays during 7-12 pm, recorded a smoking prevalence of 6.2% and 7.3% before and after the introduction of smokefree indoor policies in 2007 (Brennan et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smoking in outdoor areas of bars and cafés: Large differences between midday and evening prevalences

Chan

Burnett

Baillie

et al. 2014

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Smoke-free signs are a potential way to reduce outdoor smoking in public areas, decrease littering, and denormalise smoking 6. States with preemptive clause legislation may benefit from smoke-free signs to reduce smoking and protect the public from secondhand smoke emissions, although it is unknown if these results are generalisable to other cities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smoke-free signage in public parks: impacts on smoking behaviour

Platter

Pokorny

2017

Tob Control

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Informing outdoor smokefree policy: Methods for measuring the proportion of people smoking in outdoor public areas

Cited by 22 publications

References 21 publications

Measuring visual exposure to smoking behaviours: a viewshed analysis of smoking at outdoor bars and cafés across a capital city’s downtown area

Measuring visual exposure to smoking behaviours: a viewshed analysis of smoking at outdoor bars and cafés across a capital city’s downtown area

Smoking in outdoor areas of bars and cafés: Large differences between midday and evening prevalences

Smoke-free signage in public parks: impacts on smoking behaviour

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About