Density of tobacco retail outlets and tobacco control-related information environment in public places in Qingdao city,China

ObjectiveTo examine the density of tobacco retail outlets around communities and to describe the information environment regarding tobacco use in public places of Qingdao city.MethodsWe investigated the location of 932 tobacco retail outlets and information environment related to tobacco use in 2 339 public places(1 568 restaurants,63 hospitals,142 schools,340 exercise places,and 226 roads)around 27 communities randomly selected from four districts(Shi'nan,Shibei,Sifang,and Licang)of Qingdao city.ResultsThe tobacco outlets density was 5.7 per 1 000 residents.Among the 932 tobacco retail outlets,63.9% had reminding mark of “Selling cigarettes here” outside the store,4.1% showed the mark of “No sales to minors”.The ratio of negative information(tobacco advertisements)to positive information(warning message)was 142:1.Among all the public places surveyed,only 1.1% were smoking-free units where smoking being forbidden absolutely and 2.8% posted the mark of “No smoking”,but 1.4% presented tobacco advertisements and no warning massages such as “Smoking is harmful to health” were found.ConclusionThe density of tobacco outlets is high and information environment in public places is not conducive for tobacco control in Qingdao city and governmental agencies should pay more attentions to improve the situation.