Public opinions for tobacco smoke in restaurants in Taiwan: Before and after the nation's implementation of the Smoke-Free-Restaurants-Program

Tobacco smoke in restaurants has posed public health concerns. The government of Taiwan adopted the strictest rule in the implementation of Smoke-Free-Restaurants-Program (SFRP), which required all joined restaurants to be completely smoke-free, including kitchens and restrooms. The SFRP aimed to minimize the annoyance and adverse health effects from side stream smoke in restaurants by the collaboration of public health and health communication. Two-waves of public opinions investigation for residents aged 6+ were completed before (February, 2003) and after (November, 2003) the implementation of SFRP to examine public attitudes. Total sample size was 2,978 and 2,900, respectively. Before and after the SMFP, the rates of environmental tobacco smoke exposure in restaurants decreased from 70.1% to 57.1% (p-value<0.001). In the second wave, the support for smoke-free restaurants achieved up to 92.6% for non-smokers and 75.3% for current-smokers. More specifically, if restaurants became completely smoke-free, approximately ninety percents respondents would increase or at least remain the same consumption, despite of their smoking status. The rate even increased if accompanied by children. Finally, more than eighty percent respondents anticipated that more strict actions employed to prevent environmental tobacco smoke exposure in restaurants, with similar trends among current-smokers and non-smokers. Trends and predictors of public support for SFRP would be further scrutinized. With field evaluation by experts and promotion of accurate concepts of smoke-free environment via mass media in this study, the SFRP evidence in Taiwan may highlight the importance of the cooperation between public health and health communication in future tobacco control issues.