Cigarette consumption estimates for 71 countries from 1970 to 2015: systematic collection of comparable data to facilitate quasi-experimental evaluations of national and global tobacco control interventions.

OBJECTIVES: To collect, appraise, select, and report the best available national estimates of cigarette consumption since 1970. DESIGN: Systematic collection of comparable data. SETTING AND POPULATION: 71 of 214 countries for which searches for national cigarette consumption data were conducted, representing over 95% of global cigarette consumption and 85% of the world's population. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Validated cigarette consumption data covering 1970-2015 were identified for 71 countries. Data quality appraisal was conducted by two research team members in duplicate, with greatest weight given to official government sources. All data were standardised into units of cigarettes consumed per year in each country, a detailed accounting of data quality and sourcing was prepared, and all collected data and metadata were made freely available in an open access dataset. RESULTS: Cigarette consumption fell in most countries over the past three decades but trends in country specific consumption were highly variable. For example, China consumed 2.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cigarettes in 2013, more than Russia (0.36 MMT), the United States (0.28 MMT), Indonesia (0.28 MMT), Japan (0.20 MMT), and the next 35 highest consuming countries combined. The US and Japan achieved reductions of more than 0.1 MMT from a decade earlier, whereas Russian consumption plateaued, and Chinese and Indonesian consumption increased by 0.75 MMT and 0.1 MMT, respectively. These data generally concord with modelled country level data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and have the additional advantage of not smoothing year-over-year discontinuities that are necessary for robust quasi-experimental impact evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: Before this study, publicly available data on cigarette consumption have been limited; they have been inappropriate for quasi-experimental impact evaluations (modelled data), held privately by companies (proprietary data), or widely dispersed across many national statistical agencies and research organisations (disaggregated data). This new dataset confirms that cigarette consumption has decreased in most countries over the past three decades, but that secular country specific consumption trends are highly variable. The findings underscore the need for more robust processes in data reporting, ideally built into international legal instruments or other mandated processes. To monitor the impact of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and other tobacco control interventions, data on national tobacco production, trade, and sales should be routinely collected and openly reported.

Changing sexual offender behaviour and assessing risk for reoffending

We found 11 systematic reviews and 21 primary studies and non-systematic reviews relevant to the questions. Of these, seven reviews and 11 studies addressed the first question about remediation/rehabilitation models in changing sexual offender behaviour, and five reviews and 10 primary studies addressed the second question about models for identifying the risk of sexual offenders for reoffending (one systematic review included information relevant to both questions). None of the reviews specifically addressed physicians and only one older study focused on physicians by providing a comparison of characteristics of physician sexual offenders to other sexual offenders. In addition, most of the evidence we identified emanates from a criminological perspective, with participants drawn directly from penal institutions and/or secure hospital settings, and use criminal charges and conviction rates as outcomes measured.

Identifying optimal ways to collect, distill and provide efficient access to personal health information in emergency situations

We did not identify systematic reviews that addressed information-exchange systems. Of the 16 studies we identified that focused on approaches to supporting information exchange between sites and stakeholders, 13 specifically focused on health information exchange (HIE) systems that have been widely implemented in the United States.(2-14) In general, HIE is a process by which patient-level electronic health information is shared between stakeholders (e.g., clinicians, provider organizations, laboratories), and has been identified as a solution to the fragmentation and isolation of personal health information in healthcare settings.(14) The information shared may include test imaging results, discharge summaries and medication lists. These health records may be used in a variety of settings, including EDs to quickly obtain personal health information.(10) In addition to HIE systems, we identified three studies addressing other models of information exchange systems, including electronic patient care reports,(15;16) and electronic links between EDs and family physicians.