Investigating Local Health Departments' Involvement in Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Activities

Purpose: Examine the capacity of local health departments (LHDs) to perform tobacco use prevention and control (TUPC) activities.

Methods: A secondary data analysis of the 2005 NACCHO survey of 423 LHD was conducted to examine the prevalence of 11 TUPC activities (surveillance, epidemiology, screening, education, coalition building, planning, enforcing laws, outreach, training, evaluation, research). LHDs have been divided into two groups (participants and non-participants in TUPC activities). Descriptive analyses of the several factors (e.g., jurisdiction, population size, funding, staffing, information technology, infrastructure, state smoking prevalence rates) that may predict the likelihood of LHDs participation in TUPC activities were conducted.

Results: 69% of LHDs had active TUPC programs. Most frequently performed activities included health education (79%), outreach/referral (62%), coalition building (59%), planning/policy development (53%), and monitoring/surveillance (52%). The least frequently performed activities were research (11%), epidemiological services (31%) and evaluation (37%). LHD participation in TUPC activities was positively associated with higher levels of funding (including funds from federal sources), better staffing and larger jurisdiction sizes. No significant differences for information technology and infrastructure were discovered.

Conclusions: Expanding the capacity of LHDs to deliver tobacco use prevention and control (TUPC) services may require additional financial and human capital investments.