Inequalities in Tobacco Retailer Compliance Violations Across the State of Oklahoma, 2015-2019.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between compliance check violations, and characteristics of the tobacco retailer and neighborhood social vulnerability in Oklahoma. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study utilized the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Compliance Check Inspections of Tobacco Product Retailers database for 2015-2019. These data were combined with Neighborhood social vulnerability variables using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index. SETTING: The setting of this study is the state of Oklahoma, USA. OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome variable for this analysis was whether a sale was made to the youth during the compliance check (e.g., violation; yes/no) regardless of the outcome of the violation, and number of violations per a retailer. RESULTS: We observed a strong association between having a violation and retailer store type, after controlling for socioeconomic vulnerability and percentage of mobile homes. The proportion of a tobacco retailer's violations also varied by store type. CONCLUSIONS: More targeted enforcements and retailer education by store type may be necessary to increase compliance.