[Evidence of effectiveness on tobacco control programs: a systematic review of intervention studies in China]

To systematically summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of measures regarding tobacco control in China. Papers on several databases published between 1990 and 2009 were systematically searched. Methods in American Guide to Community Preventive Services were used to evaluate the quality and strength of evidence on the effectiveness of tobacco control programs. Overall, 282 studies were included in this paper, but only 75 (26.41%) studies had acceptable execution quality. Items as pharmaceutical therapy and behavior intervention in the smoking population that would show sufficient evidence on the effectiveness of the programs. In general population, multi-component intervention programs appeared to be effective. However, the effectiveness regarding items as clinical consultation, therapy with traditional Chinese medicine, education programs alone, non-smoking related laws and regulations etc. were of insufficient evidence. The overall execution quality of intervention studies on tobacco control in China was considered to be poor and few of them would show the evidence on the effectiveness of the programs. Only few studies on non-smoking related laws and regulations touched upon the positive effectiveness on this issue. We suggested that the execution and evaluation on non-smoking related laws and regulations be strengthened.