Scoping Review of Existing Evaluations of Smokeless Tobacco Control Policies: What Is Known About Countries Covered, Level of Jurisdictions, Target Groups Studied, and Instruments Evaluated?

Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

Authors

  • Sarah Forberger
  • Zohaib Khan
  • Furqan Ahmad
  • J. Frense
  • T. Kampfmann
  • Fayaz Ahmad
  • Safat Ullah
  • O. Dogar
  • K. Siddiqi
  • Hajo Zeeb
Objective

The implementation of smokeless tobacco control policies lags behind those for smoking. This scoping review summarizes the studies that evaluated public policies on smokeless tobacco regulation (SLT) and provides an overview of the jurisdictional level, target groups, and policy instruments.
Methods

Seven databases were systematically searched for studies reporting on public policies regulating SLT. Two reviewers independently screened all studies. Data extraction was performed using a predefined extraction form. Extraction was replicated for 10% of the identified studies for quality assurance. A narrative synthesis of the included studies was used to analyze and interpret the data. The protocol was published beforehand with the Open Science Foundation (OSF).
Results

Fourty articles comprising 41 studies were included. Most of the studies reported in the articles were conducted in the United States (n = 17) or India (n = 14). Most studies reported outcomes for students (n = 8), retailers/sellers (n = 8), and users/former users (n = 5). The impact of public policies on smokeless tobacco use, in general, was most frequently assessed (n = 9), followed by the impact of taxes (n = 7), product bans (n = 6), sales/advertising bans near educational institutions (n = 4), and health warnings (n = 3) on consumer behavior.
Conclusions

There are significant gaps in the evaluation of smokeless tobacco regulation studies that need to be filled by further research to understand the observed outcomes. WHO reporting on Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) implementation should be linked to studies evaluating smokeless tobacco control measures at all levels of jurisdictions and in countries not members of the WHO FCTC or do not provide data.
Implication

Large gaps in the evaluation of SLT control policies exist. For some countries, WHO FCTC evaluations are available for different levels of jurisdictions. In countries with a strong federal structure, there is a lack of data beyond the national level to provide a more detailed look at compliance, indirect effects, or implementation gaps. More research is needed at all levels of jurisdictions, which add to the work of the WHO to understand what works for which target group, how the different levels of jurisdiction interact, how the real-world context can be incorporated, and what indirect effects may occur.
Original languageEnglish
JournalNicotine and Tobacco Research
Volume24
Issue number9
Pages (from-to)1344-1354
Number of pages11
ISSN1462-2203
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.09.2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The research was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (project number 574 030 10 and 575 236 44) and by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) [ASTRA (Grant Reference Number 17/63/76)] using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved.

DOI