Components in tobacco-free school policies—A coding tool for assessment

Abstract

Objective To develop an instrument to examine tobacco-free campus policy components. Participants Missouri two- and four-year, specialized/technical, and religious colleges and universities (N = 76). Methods: The instrument was informed via literature review and expert interviews. Coder agreement was strong (κ = .80). Qualitative policy language examples were identified. Results Model policy components including consideration for population, prohibited products, location restrictions, enforcement, consequences, promotions, communications, cessation, designated smoking areas and exemptions; comprehensive policies included all populations, for all tobacco products, and at all locations on the campus. Nineteen campuses had comprehensive tobacco-free policies, five had comprehensive smoke-free policies (cigarettes and e-cigarettes), and no policy included all model components. Fifty-two were non-comprehensive. Conclusions This instrument can allow campuses to identify components for comprehensive and model tobacco-free campus policies and assist officials in improving policy language. Future research can use this instrument to examine the effectiveness of components and their impact on tobacco use outcomes.