Award Date
May 2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Public Health (MPH)
Department
Public Health
First Committee Member
Timothy Grigsby
Second Committee Member
Nicole DeVille
Third Committee Member
Courtney Coughenour
Fourth Committee Member
Maxim Gakh
Fifth Committee Member
William Sousa
Number of Pages
81
Abstract
Despite the known harmful effects of smoking and secondhand smoke, tobacco-related disease, disability, and death continue to plague the United Stated and contribute to more than 480,000 individuals dying prematurely every year. Comprehensive smoke-free and tobacco free policies strive to prohibit the use of both traditional forms of tobacco (cigarettes, cigars) and smokeless forms of tobacco (vapes). The goal of this project was to examine the impact a tobacco control policy has on prevalence rates of use and knowledge regarding said policy among faculty, staff, and students. In the Fall of 2022, UNLV adopted a comprehensive tobaccofree and smoke-free policy (TFCP). Cross-sectional surveys were distributed to the UNLV community (students, faculty, and staff) in Spring 2022 (pre-implementation) and Fall 2022 (post-implementation) to gauge support for TFCP and examine rates of tobacco and nicotine product use on campus. Prevalence rates were higher for tobacco products at postimplementation among students, faculty, and staff at 28%, and 25% to 37% compared to pre- implementation rates of 10%, 7%, and 12%, respectively. Additionally, higher prevalence rates were observed in nicotine product use with students at post-implementation from 17% to 37%, faculty from 6% to 20% and staff from 7% to 36%. Support for policy was higher preimplementation among students (m = 3.8, SD = 1.1; m = 3.4, SD = 1.3), faculty (m = 3.8, SD = 1.2; m = 3.4, SD = 1.3), and staff (m = 3.5, SD = 1.3; m =3.3, SD 1.3). Policy perceptions and tobacco/nicotine product use varied by sociodemographic characteristics of students, faculty, and staff. Despite observing higher prevalence rates post-implementation this study has contributed to understanding gaps in the literature such as how these policies affect different subgroups of college subpopulations (e.g., 1st generation students and sexual and gender minorities). Identifying predictors for support of college campus TFCP can help to inform future research on impacts of policy implementation.
Disciplines
Public Health
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Washburn, Kacie, "Examining the Impacts of UNLV's Tobacco-Free Policy Pre and Post Implementation" (2024). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 5094.
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/5094
Rights
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