@article {Goel407, author = {Sonu Goel and Deepak Sharma and Rakesh Gupta and Vini Mahajan}, title = {Compliance with smoke-free legislation and smoking behaviour: observational field study from Punjab, India}, volume = {27}, number = {4}, pages = {407--413}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-053559}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {Background Indian smoke-free legislation requires prohibition of smoking at public places and owners of public places to display {\textquoteleft}no smoking{\textquoteright} signages.Aims and objectives The study aims to assess the compliance of public places with smoke-free legislation and determine the factors associated with active smoking in public places.Methodology This was a cross-sectional analytic observational quantitative survey conducted by a team of trained field investigators using a structured observational checklist across 6875 public places in Punjab state of India. The study was carried out over a period of 3 years.Results A total of 6875 public places across 22 districts of Punjab were observed. The overall compliance to smoke-free law in Punjab was 83.8\%. The highest overall compliance was observed in healthcare facilities (89.6\%) and least in transit stations (78.8\%). Less active smoking was observed in public places where display of {\textquoteleft}no smoking{\textquoteright} signage compliant with smoke-free law of India was present (adjusted OR 0.6). Further, there was a positive association between active smoking and places where the owner of public places smoked (OR 5.2, CI 2.5 to 11.1).Conclusion More than 80\% of the public places in a jurisdiction in north India were compliant with the smoke-free legislation of India. {\textquoteleft}No smoking{\textquoteright} signages displayed as per legislation have an effect on curbing smoking behaviours at public places. It is recommended that policymakers should focus more on implementing the smoke-free law at transit sites and structured training sessions should be organised for owners of workplaces.}, issn = {0964-4563}, URL = {https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/27/4/407}, eprint = {https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/27/4/407.full.pdf}, journal = {Tobacco Control} }