Passive exposure and perceptions of smoke-free policies in hospital and university campuses among nursing students: A cross-sectional multicenter study
Introduction Outdoor smoke-free regulations reduce exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) and help to denormalize tobacco use. As future key agents in health promotion, nursing students’ attitudes should agree with tobacco-control policies. The objectives of this study were: 1) assess nursing students’...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Publishing
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Tobacco Induced Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.org/Passive-exposure-and-perceptions-of-smoke-free-policies-in-hospital-and-university,167390,0,2.html |
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| Summary: | Introduction
Outdoor smoke-free regulations reduce exposure to secondhand
smoke (SHS) and help to denormalize tobacco use. As future key agents in health
promotion, nursing students’ attitudes should agree with tobacco-control policies.
The objectives of this study were: 1) assess nursing students’ exposure to SHS
in nursing schools, 2) explore their perceptions of compliance with the existing
smoke-free regulations in acute-care hospitals; and 2) describe their support for
indoor and outdoor smoking bans on hospital and university campuses.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional multicenter study conducted in 2015–2016 in
all 15 university nursing schools in Catalonia, Spain. A questionnaire gathered
information on SHS exposure, awareness of the smoke-free regulation in acutecare
hospitals, and support for smoke-free policies in indoor and outdoor areas of
hospitals and university campuses. Participants were nursing students attending
classes on the day of the survey. We performed descriptive analyses and calculated
adjusted prevalence ratios (APR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results
Of 4381 respondents, 99.1% had seen people smoking in outdoor areas
of their university campus, and 75.2% had been exposed to SHS on the campus
(6.0% indoors and 69.2% outdoors). Nearly 60% were aware of the smoking
regulation in place in acute-care hospitals. There was widespread support for
smoke-free indoor hospital regulation (98.7%), but less support (64.8%) for
outdoor regulations. Approximately 33% supported the regulation to make
outdoor healthcare campuses smoke-free, which was higher among third-year
students compared to first-year students (APR=1.41; 95% CI: 1.24–1.62), among
never smokers (41.4%; APR=2.84; 95% CI: 2.21–3.64) compared to smokers,
and among those who were aware of the regulation (38.4%; 95% CI: 1.37–1.75).
Conclusions
Exposure to SHS on university campuses is high. Nursing students
express low support for strengthening outdoor smoking bans on hospital and
university campuses. Interventions aiming to increase their support should be
implemented. |
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| ISSN: | 1617-9625 |