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Objective: To assess community attitudes towards smoking bans, tobacco availability, promotion and product regulation, tobacco industry donations to political parties, and government spending on tobacco control activities. To compare public preferences on these issues with policies of the NSW and Commonwealth governments. Method: Anonymous, computer assisted telephone interviews of adults from randomly selected households in the NSW Electronic White Pages conducted in 2004. All subjects completed a core question set and subsequently, one of three sub-sets. Results: Overall 49.1% of eligible subjects consented. Data from two sub-samples containing 1,191 and 1,158 subjects are reported. Majority support existed for smoking bans in all six settings assessed: children's playgrounds (89%), sports stadia (77%), licensed premises (72%), outdoor dining (69%), beaches (55%) and motor vehicles carrying children (55%). Respondents nominated vastly higher tobacco control budgets than current levels of government expenditure. On a scale assessing support for tobacco control (maximum score = 13), the mean scores of both non-smokers (10.4) and smokers (8.0) were high. Of seven variables tested, only two: living with a smoker and personal smoking status were independent predictors of having a high pro-tobacco control score. Conclusion: There is strong community support for additional government regulation mandating smoke-free provision and other counter tobacco measures. Implications: Continued advocacy campaigns are required to align government tobacco control agenda more closely with public preferences. Key words: smoking, environmental tobacco smoke, policy, tobacco control, community survey, product regulation

Objective: To examine community attitudes towards environmental tobacco smoke in licensed premises after the Sharp case decision. Method: 723 randomly selected New South Wales residents aged 18 years and over completed a telephone survey in November 2001. Results: The vast majority supported some form of smoking restriction in licensed clubs (92.1%) and hotels (90.0%). Compared with a 2000 survey, respondents in the 2001 survey were significantly more likely to support a total smoking ban in Licensed clubs and hotels. When support was assessed using a ban-only question, 66.8% supported banning smoking in pubs/clubs. Approximately half reported being less likely to visit non-eating areas of licensed clubs (51.2%) and hotels (49.8%) if smoking were permitted and these proportions were significantly higher than in the 2000 survey. A majority (83.1%) thought bar workers' health should be a major consideration when deciding how to handle smoking in pubs/clubs. More than half (56.8%) believed pubs/clubs would experience significant financial problems if smoking bans were introduced. Conclusions and implications: In New South Wales, majority support exists for banning smoking in pubs and clubs. Legislation banning smoking in all indoor drinking and gaming areas should be introduced immediately.

Objective: To assess community attitudes and practices in relation to fake tanning lotions. Methods: 1,509 New South Wales residents aged 15 years and over, selected at random, completed a computer-assisted telephone survey. Results: Thirty-three per cent of respondents thought fake tanning lotions were unsafe. In relation to The Cancer Council marketing fake tanning lotions, more than three-fifths thought The Cancer Council would be promoting tans, although 62% thought it would be a good thing as fake tans are safer than tanning in the sun. Nine per cent of respondents had used fake tanning lotions in the past 12 months. Almost half (48%) of female current users used fake tanning lotions occasionally or only for special occasions during the past summer. In particular settings, the sunscreen and hat-wearing practices of female users and non-users of fake tanning lotions differed significantly. Conclusion: There appears to be no consistent data to suggest that fake tanning lotions may be used as a safer alternative to sun tanning. However, there is a responsibility to at least disseminate accurate information on these products.

Objective: To explore the information received by NRT users; whether patterns of NRT use are in accordance with recommendations; and to identify the characteristics of those using NRT products. Methods: A cross-sectional, omnibus telephone survey of 1,509 community members was conducted in New South Wales, Australia in 2000. The survey identified 215 current and former smokers who completed additional questions regarding their most recent quit attempt. Results: Of the 215 current and former smokers, 67 (31.2%) had used NRT on their most recent quit attempt. The majority of NRT use (61%) lasted for less than two weeks. More than 40% of NRT users reported receiving no instructions from a doctor or pharmacist on how to use the product. Approximately one-third of NRT use was associated with concomitant smoking, with 10% of NRT use being associated with little or no reduction in reported daily cigarette consumption. Only 41.8% of NRT users reported a doctor had recommended using the product. Conclusions: Despite the small size of the sample, the data suggest a level of inappropriate use of NRT products in the community. Implications: Wider use and effective provision of support and advice to NRT users in the community must be addressed if this product is to achieve its optimal potential in aiding smoking cessation.

Objective: To document levels of public support in Australia for smoking restrictions in licensed premises, including trends over time, and to examine the potential effects of a ban on patronage. Method: Systematic review of published and unpublished studies of community and staff attitudes towards smoking in bars, gaming areas and related venues were identified using Medline, Current Contents, PsycINFO and AUSTHealth prior to September 2002. State and Territory health departments, cancer organisations and branches of the National Heart Foundation were approached. Cross-sectional surveys reporting data on attitudes towards smoking restrictions and/or perceptions of effects on patronage were sought. Two reviewers assessed studies for inclusion. One extracted data using pre-coded categories with checking by the second. Results: Thirty-four community and seven staff surveys were synthesised qualitatively, with greater emphasis given to surveys using random selection. All surveys conducted since 1993, which included the separate smoking area response option, have demonstrated majority support for some form of smoking restriction on licensed premises. From 2000, surveys with the ban option alone report majority support for prohibiting smoking completely in bars (52-68%) and gaming areas (64-76%). Support increased significantly after the Sharp damages award. Customer preference data indicate banning smoking is most likely to have a neutral or positive effect on patronage. Conclusions and implications: Support for a ban on smoking in licensed premises has increased by almost 20% in the past decade. State and Territory governments should introduce legislation banning smoking in all indoor drinking and gaming areas immediately.

Objective: To assess community knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) especially in homes, private motor vehicles and licensed premises, and to document levels of support for further government legislation. Methods: 656 persons aged 18 years and over, a sub-sample in a computer-assisted telephone survey of 2,087 randomly selected respondents across NSW, answered 12 ETS-specific questions. The whole sample was asked demographic, smoking status and household membership questions. The overall response rate was 61.4% (consent rate 75.4%). Results: Overall, 32.8% (95% CI 27.8-37.8) of children aged 0-4 years in the households surveyed were reported to live with at least one smoker. Agreement about ETS hazards was lowest in relation to child ear problems (31.2%) and sudden infant death syndrome (50.6%). Complete bans on smoking were reported in 69.9% of homes and 77.1% of private motor vehicles. The percentages favouring total bans in homes (p Conclusion: Smoking is banned in most NSW homes and private motor vehicles. Acceptance of ETS risks is high but there are important knowledge gaps. Considerable support exists for further government regulation of ETS. Media campaigns are likely to reinforce a public environment already receptive of the need for more government ETS restrictions.

Research is presented concerning the specificity and sensitivity of self-reported smoking compared with biochemical indicators in 7,405 pregnant women. The influence of passive exposure to smoking is discussed.

A number of sources are available to clinicians to help them communicate a life threatening diagnosis to patients. However many of the guidelines are written from the perspective of the expert or physicians and the receivers' perspective has been less documented. There are also substantial variations in recommendations. Database reference material from 1994-1997 is reviewed., Literature related to breaking bad news to medical patients was reviewed. An analysis of citations appearing between 1994 and August 1997 updated earlier work and indicated that a minority (24%) [...]

Objectives. A randomized trial evaluated the impact of smoking cessation interventions on point prevalence and consecutive quit rates at an Australian public prenatal clinic. Methods. Self-reports and urine cotinine tests confirmed patients' smoking status at the midpoint and end of pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum. Results. At all points. validated abstinence rates were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group. The rate of failed biochemical validation was significantly higher in the control group than in the experimental group. Conclusions. Prenatal clinic staff can significantly increase quit rates by using cognitive-behavioral strategies. Brief advice appears to be ineffective. (Am J Public Health. 1997;87: 1201-1204)

Midwives' self-reports of smoking status of pregnant women are inaccurate, as they either misclassify or fail to identify a significant proportion of smokers. Midwife-identified nonsmokers who can be reclassified as smokers with research questionnaire and urinalysis methods, are 7.4% using the conservative estimate, 15.2% using the worst-case estimate, and 8.8% using the medium estimate. Findings suggest the need to improve the measures used to classify individuals.

Smoking during pregnancy has been associated with many adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, debate continues about whether smoking causes these outcomes. This review of the criteria of causation found that the relative risk of having a low-birth-weight baby is nearly doubled in women who smoke during pregnancy compared with nonsmoking women and that the relative risks of spontaneous abortion and perinatal and neonatal mortality are increased by about one-third. The magnitude of the long-term effects of maternal smoking on the physical and mental development of the offspring is small but measurable. The epidemiologic evidence associating maternal smoking with major adverse pregnancy outcomes in prospective and case-control studies displays a high degree of consistency. A dose-response gradient for smoking during pregnancy has not been clearly shown in relation to perinatal and neo-natal mortality. However, there is strong support for a dose-response gradient in relation to low birth weight and spontaneous abortion and moderate support for long-term developmental effects. Although a biological causal mechanism has not been clearly delineated, considerable evidence indicates that the chemicals in tobacco smoke are capable of producing deleterious changes in the placenta and fetus., Cigarette smoking has been associated with many adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, debate continues about the extent to which these associations are causal or noncausal. In this review I provide a [...]