Learning Objectives: identify and use information from state-specific historical data sets to monitor tobacco control program activity and impact over time
Abstract: Many states begin implementing tobacco control programs and policies before evaluation systems are in place and base line data are collected. In order to document the impact of these tobacco control activities, existing or historical data must be examined.
Using the New York State Tobacco Control Program as an example, we reviewed existing data systems to determine which were relevant to monitoring program progress, and assessed their utility in documenting program impact over time.
Existing data systems were identified, including smoking prevalence from the BRFSS, excise tax receipts and tobacco licensure information from the Department of Taxation, expenditure data from the state’s Medicaid system, historical data on local and state tobacco control policies, data specific to New York from the tobacco modules included in the Current Population Surveys of the Census Bureau, Neilson data on expenditures for anti-tobacco advertising and advertising for nicotine replacement medications, scanner data on cigarette sales, and call volume data to New York State’s Smokers’ Quitline. Data from these and other systems allowed the state to assess program impact on key outcomes during a period when no program evaluation was in place and no baseline data had been collected.
Existing data sources provide information for monitoring the impact of tobacco control programs in the absence of independently developed and costly formal evaluation systems. While historical data are not a substitute for a planned program evaluation, existing data sources represent a fairly inexpensive way to monitor long-term trends in tobacco control activity at the state level.
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