A Store Cohort Study of Compliance With a Point-of-Sale Cigarette Display Ban in Melbourne, Australia

This study aimed to evaluate compliance with legislation which restricted cigarette displays in retail outlets, and to assess prevalence of pro- and anti-tobacco elements in stores pre- and post-legislation. Three audits of 302 stores in Melbourne, Australia by trained observers who gathered information on point-of-sale tobacco displays 23 months before and 34 and 1112 months after the enactment of new restrictions. Between the first and second audits, nine stores stopped selling tobacco and three stores had either shut down or were closed for renovations. Of the remaining 290 stores, 94.1% observed the full ban on cigarette package visibility, while new restrictions on price board size and new requirements for graphic health warnings were followed in 85.9% and 67.2% of stores, respectively. Between the second and third audits, another seven stores ended tobacco sales and two stores closed. In Audit 3, 89.7% of the remaining 281 stores complied with price board restrictions, and 82.2% of stores followed requirements for graphic health warnings. Overall, the prevalence of anti-tobacco signage increased and pro-tobacco features decreased between audits for every store type and neighborhood socio-economic status. Tobacco retailers were almost universally compliant with placing cigarettes out of sight and a substantial majority were compliant with regulations on price board size and display of graphic health warnings, demonstrating that such legislation can be implemented successfully.