Clearing the air: improving smoke-free policy compliance at the national oncology hospital in Armenia

BMC Cancer

Frances Stillman¹  Diana Petrosyan²  Arusyak Harutyunyan²  Varduhi Petrosyan²  Narine K Movsisyan² 

[1]Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

[2]School of Public Health, American University of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

关键词: Transition economies;    Armenia;    Policy compliance;    Indoor tobacco smoke pollution;    Secondhand smoke (SHS);    Smoke-free hospital;    Smoke-free policy;   

Others  :  1117900
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2407-14-943

 received in 2014-08-04, accepted in 2014-12-08,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Smoke-free policies shown to reduce population exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) are the norm in hospitals in many countries around the world. Armenia, a transition economy in the South Caucasus, has one of the highest male smoking rates in the European region. Although smoking in healthcare facilities has been banned since 2005, compliance with this ban has been poor due to lack of implementation and enforcement mechanisms and social acceptability of smoking. The study aimed to develop and test a model intervention to address the lack of compliance with the de jure smoking ban. The national oncology hospital was chosen as the intervention site.

Methods

This study used employee surveys and objective measurements of respirable particles (PM_2.5) and air nicotine as markers of indoor air pollution before and after the intervention. The intervention developed in partnership with the hospital staff included an awareness campaign on SHS hazards, creation of no-smoking environment and building institutional capacity through training of nursing personnel on basics of tobacco control. The survey analysis included paired t-test and McNemar’s test. The log-transformed air nicotine and PM_2.5 data were analyzed using paired t-test.

Results

The survey showed significant improvement in the perceived quality of indoor air, reduced worksite exposure to SHS and increased employees’ awareness of the smoke-free policy. The number of employees reporting compliance with the hospital smoke-free policy increased from 36.0% to 71.9% (p < 0.001). The overall indoor PM_2.5 concentration decreased from 222 μg/m³ GM (95% CI = 216-229) to 112 μg/m³ GM (95% CI = 99-127). The overall air nicotine level reduced from 0.59 μg/ m³ GM (95% CI = 0.38-0.91) to 0.48 μg/ m³ GM (95% CI = 0.25-0.93).

Conclusions

The three-faceted intervention developed and implemented in partnership with the hospital administration and staff was effective in reducing worksite SHS exposure in the hospital. This model can facilitate a tangible improvement in compliance with smoke-free policies as the first step toward a smoke-free hospital and serve as a model for similar settings in transition countries such Armenia that have failed to implement the adopted smoke-free policies.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Movsisyan et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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