This annual report - Taranaki District Health Board

Sutcliffe K, et al. 2011. Young people's access to tobacco: a mixed-method systematic review. London: EPPICentre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.This report sought to identify the retail and non-retail sources of tobacco used by young people and included a review ofinternational evidence assessing the effect of interventions aimed at reducing non-retail access to cigarettes by youngpeople. Four types of intervention have been evaluated (possession laws; retail interventions measuring the impact onsocial access; school policies; and home access restrictions) using a mixture of RCTs (possession law interventions)and observational studies. None of the interventions specifically targeted proxy purchasing, identified as an importantsource of non-retail tobacco. The overall evidence base was limited.National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. 2010. School-based interventions to prevent the uptake ofsmoking among children and young people (NICE public health guidance 23). London: National Institute forHealth and Clinical Excellence. http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/PH23.This NICE public health guidance provides comprehensive evidence-based guidance on school-based interventions toprevent smoking uptake by children and young people. It includes a systematic review assessing the effectiveness ofinterventions. The review included 64 RCTs, with between 500 and 17,446 participants and follow up of up to 13 years.Meta-analysis of 27 RCTs demonstrated a significant intervention effect. There was moderate evidence indicating thatmulti-component interventions incorporating both school and community components were ineffective in preventinguptake compared to usual education. There was no clear evidence to favour a particular conceptual model (socialinfluence, social competence, information giving and combined interventions). Adverse or unintentional effects were notspecifically examined in any of the studies. Despite 62 large RCTs there was little evidence about what works for whombesides weak evidence indicating that school‐based interventions starting soon after primary school entry may beeffective in reducing the uptake of smoking up to age of 14, and strong evidence that booster sessions enhanceeffectiveness of main programmes.Emory K, et al. 2010. The association between home smoking restrictions and youth smoking behaviour: areview. Tobacco Control, 19(6), 495-506.This review assessed the association between home smoking restrictions and the prevention of youth smoking.Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria, two of which were longitudinal studies and the remainder cross-sectional.Sixteen studies, including the two longitudinal studies, showed some association between restrictions and reducedadolescent smoking behaviours. Completely smoke-free homes appear to be more effective than partial restrictions andthe benefits of smoke-free policies were less clear in homes where at least one adult smoked.National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. 2008. Mass-media and point-of-sales measures to prevent theuptake of smoking by children and young people. London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.http://www.nice.org.uk/PH014.This public health guidance provides as set of evidence-based recommendations on mass-media and point-of-salesmeasures to prevent the uptake of smoking by children and young people. The guidance includes a systematic review,an economic appraisal, stakeholder comments and the results of fieldwork. The review included 61 studies (40 massmedia and 21 access restriction studies). There was sufficient evidence to support mass media interventions insmoking prevention and interventions were more effective when combined with broader tobacco control strategies andwhen campaigns were long lasting with higher exposure levels. Although there was evidence that access restrictioninterventions affect young people’s ability to access cigarettes only two studies addressed the impact of interventionson smoking behaviour. It is recommended that mass-media and point-of-sales measures should be combined withother prevention activities as part of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy.Kavanagh J, et al. 2006. A systematic review of the evidence for incentive schemes to encourage positive healthand other social behaviours in young people. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute ofEducation, University of London.This systematic review assessed the effectiveness of incentive schemes in encouraging positive health behaviour inyoung people. The review identified two school-based anti-smoking competitions whose combined results wereassociated with significant reductions in daily smoking rates immediately after the intervention and at one year followup.The results should be interpreted with caution given the small number of studies and the authors recommend thatclassroom-based incentive schemes which aim to delay the onset of or reduce levels of smoking should be piloted andevaluated in RCTs.Tobacco Use in Young People - 221