Patterns of Adherence to and Compliance with the Portuguese Smoke-Free Law in the Leisure-Hospitality Sector

Abstract

BackgroundIn 2008, the Portuguese smoke-free law came into effect including partial bans in the leisure-hospitality (LH) sector. The objective of the study is to assess the prevalence of smoking control policies (total ban, smoking permission and designated smoking areas) adopted by the LH sector in Portugal. The levels of noncompliance with each policy are investigated as well as the main factors associated with smoking permission and noncompliance with the law.MethodsCross-sectional study conducted between January 2010 and May 2011. A random sample of venues was selected from the Portuguese LH sector database, proportionally stratified according to type, size and geographical area. All venues were assessed in loco by an observer. The independent effects of venues' characteristics on smoking permission and the level of noncompliance with the law were explored using logistic regression.ResultsOverall, 1.412 venues were included. Total ban policy was adopted by 75.9% of venues, while 8.4% had designated smoking areas. Smoking ban was more prevalent in restaurants (85.9%). Only 29.7% of discos/bars/pubs opted for complete ban. Full or partial smoking permission was higher in discos/bar/pubs (OR = 7.37; 95%CI 4.87 to 11.17). Noncompliance with the law was higher in venues allowing smoking and lower in places with complete ban (33.6% and 7.6% respectively, p<0.001). Discos/bars/pubs with full smoking permission had the highest level of noncompliance (OR = 3.31; 95%CI 1.40 to 7.83).ConclusionsOur findings show a high adherence to smoking ban policy by the Portuguese LH sector. Nonetheless, one quarter of the venues is fully or partially permissive towards smoking, with the discos/bars/pubs considerably contributing to this situation. Venues with smoking permission policies were less compliant with the legislation. The implementation of a comprehensive smoke-free law, without any exceptions, is essential to effectively protect people from the second hand smoke.

Children’s Exposure to Secondhand Smoke during Ramadan in Jakarta, Indonesia

“…In those venues, PM 2.5 levels were significantly greater than in non-smoking venues. As has been observed in Indonesia [20,21] and internationally [22,23,24], we found that non-enforcement of smoke-free laws fails to provide needed protection from SHS exposure for nonsmokers, including children. The PM 2.5 levels observed in this study were lower than those found in a 2009 convenience sample of 17 restaurants in Jakarta (~110 µg/m 3 ) [21] and in many similar venues sampled globally [16,25,26].…”

Factors that influence attitude and enforcement of the smoke-free law in Turkey: a survey of hospitality venue owners and employees

“…The success of the legislation is contingent on the level of compliance. Currently, studies in the literature have compared levels of support13 and levels of compliance between partial and comprehensive bans,14 15 as well as assessed compliance with specifications of the law such as no active smoking or adopting ‘no smoking’ signs 16–18. Few studies,19–22 however, have looked further to assess specific factors or characteristics that shape compliance with the law, particularly within the hospitality sector.…”

Characterization of Smoking Habits Patterns in Medical Doctors of a Central Hospital in Portugal–What has Changed after 15 Years? A Comparative CrossSectional Study

“…Healthcare professionals should be active in smoking prevention, as part of their daily practice [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Previous studies demonstrated that the attitude of healthcare professionals towards smoking is crucial for any long-term prevention and smoking cessation program [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

“…In 2010, tobacco was responsible for 11800 deaths in our country. In 2012, more than a quarter of the population of 15 to 64 years was a tobacco consumer [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The majority of Portuguese started smoking consumption between 12 and 20 years of age, largely due to the influence of friends or curiosity and willingness to experiment.that it is imperative to invest in prevention and control of this important national public health problem [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…Studies suggest that as smoking rates decline among physicians, a similar reduction will be observed in the general population as well. Recent data demonstrated that surgical specialities have greater tendency to stress with more highest percentage of smokers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”