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. 2018 Oct;108(10):1366-1369.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304568. Epub 2018 Aug 23.

Adoption of Tobacco- and Smoke-Free Policies in a US National Sample of Postsecondary Educational Institutions

Catherine Trad  1 , Jennifer Bayly  1 , Launick Saint-Fort  1 , Mary Andrews  1 , Minal Patel  1 , Melanie Sabado-Liwag  1 , Denise Haynie  1 , Bruce Simons-Morton  1 , Kelvin Choi  1
Affiliations

Adoption of Tobacco- and Smoke-Free Policies in a US National Sample of Postsecondary Educational Institutions

Catherine Trad et al. Am J Public Health. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the institutional characteristics associated with the adoption of tobacco- and smoke-free policies among US postsecondary educational institutions.

Methods: In 2017, we collected information on tobacco policy types and institutional characteristics of a national sample of US postsecondary educational institutions (n = 605) attended by the participants of the NEXT Generation Health Study. We used logistic regression to examine the relationships between these variables.

Results: Overall, 35.2% of these institutions adopted tobacco-free policies (i.e., prohibit all tobacco product use on campus), 10.1% had smoke-free policies (i.e., prohibit smoking but not other tobacco product use on campus), and 53.7% did not have tobacco- or smoke-free policies. Proprietary (privately owned, for-profit) institutions (vs public institutions) were the least likely to have tobacco- or smoke-free policies (P < .05), which were disproportionately attended by racial/ethnic minority students. Adoption of these policies also varied by census region (P < .05).

Conclusions: Prevalence of tobacco- and smoke-free policies among US postsecondary educational institutions is low. Public Health Implications. Wide dissemination of evidence-based interventions to accelerate adoption of tobacco-free policies in all postsecondary educational institutions is warranted.

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