Smoking |
The effect of the Irish smoke-free workplace legislation on smoking among bar workers
Bernie J. Mullally1,
Birgit A. Greiner1,
Shane Allwright2,
Gillian Paul2 and
Ivan J. Perry1
1 Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, National University of Ireland, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, College Road, Cork, Republic of Ireland
2 Department of Public Health & Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity College Centre for Health Sciences, AMNCH, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Republic of Ireland
Correspondence: Bernie J. Mullally, tel: +353 214901597, fax: +353 214901604, e-mail: b.mullally{at}ucc.ie
Received September 4, 2008 , accepted January 10, 2009
Background: On 29 March 2004, the Republic of Ireland (ROI) became the first EU country to introduce a nationwide ban on workplace smoking. While the focus of this measure was to protect worker health by reducing exposure to second-hand smoke, other effects such as a greater reduction in smoking prevalence and consumption were likely among bar workers. Methods: A random sample of bar workers from Cork city were surveyed before (n = 129) and after (n = 107; 82.9% follow-up rate) implementation of the smoke-free legislation. Self report and combined self report and cotinine concentration were used to determine smoking status. For comparison a cross-sectional random telephone survey of the general population (ROI) was conducted before and 1 year after the smoke-free legislation. There were 1240 pre- and 1221 participants post-ban in the equivalent age and occupational subset of the general population. Results: There was a non-significant decline in smoking prevalence among bar workers 1 year post-ban (self report: –2.8% from 51.4% to 48.6%, P = 0.51; combined self report and cotinine: –4.7% from 56.1% to 51.4%, P = 0.13), but a significant decline in consumption of four cigarettes (95% CI 2.21–6.36) per day. Within the occupationally equivalent general population sub-sample there was a significant drop (3.5%, P = 0.06) in smoking prevalence but no significant change in consumption. Conclusions: Ireland's smoke-free workplace legislation was accompanied by a drop in smoking prevalence in both bar workers and the general population sub-sample.
Keywords: All Ireland Bar Study, bar workers, cigarette consumption, smoke-free legislation, smoking prevalence, tobacco control
This work was presented at the UK Society for Social Medicine Conference in Glasgow (September 2005) and at the 13th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Washington DC USA (June 2006)