Measuring Tobacco Control Activities in the EU
Author Information
Author(s): Jochen René Thyrian, John Ulrich
Primary Institution: Institute for Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald
Hypothesis
Can a comprehensive tool be developed to estimate and compare tobacco control activities across EU member states?
Conclusion
The MATOC provides a profile of tobacco control across European countries and highlights areas for improvement.
Supporting Evidence
- Finland was rated the most active in tobacco control, while Greece and Germany were the least active.
- The questionnaire allows for easy comparison of tobacco control activities across EU countries.
- Further research is needed to validate the MATOC and improve its psychometric properties.
Takeaway
This study created a questionnaire to see how well different countries in Europe are doing at controlling tobacco use.
Methodology
An international workshop developed a questionnaire with input from tobacco control experts from 8 EU countries, which was then distributed to participants at a conference.
Potential Biases
The study relies on expert perceptions rather than actual tobacco control levels.
Limitations
The number of experts per country varied and was often small, and the psychometric properties of the instrument need further validation.
Participant Demographics
52% female; fields of work included education (19%), treatment (28%), research (30%), and policy (23%).
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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