A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ON EFFECTIVENESS OF MEASURES TO MANAGE SMOKE-FREE AREAS IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY LEVEL

Abstract

This research aimed to study the research characteristics of measures to manage smoke-free areas at the local community level and to synthesize the effectiveness of measures to manage smoke-free at the local community level. The research was conducted through a systematic review of 5 electronic academic databases, consisting of ThaiJO, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and SAGE. The data were screened by defining search terms inclusion and exclusion criteria, and filtering out duplicate articles. Consequently, 18 articles passed the quality assessment. The articles were synthesized using descriptive statistics and context analysis. The results of the synthesis revealed that most studies were quantitative research. Most patterns of local communities were gathered informal community feature. Most target groups were general people with an aim to control all types of tobacco. The activities to promote smoke-free areas in the local communities included training, awareness-raising campaign, restriction of non-smoking areas, supporting from community leaders, and cooperation with external agencies, respectively. Additionally, it was found that the effectiveness of smoke-free area management resulted from management within the local community, smoke-free community network, raising awareness about the dangers of smoking, public participation, communicated promotion to the target group, and surveillance within the community apart from the outcomes of law enforcement.