The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on August 2, 2008
The European Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckn066
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Study of impact of laws regulating tobacco consumption on the prevalence of passive smoking in Spain
Carlos A. Jiménez-Ruiz1, Juan Antonio Riesco Miranda2, Richard D. Hurt3, Angela Ramos Pinedo4, Segismundo Solano Reina5 and Francisco Carrión Valero6
1 Unidad Especializada en Tabaquismo, Sub-direccion General de Prevención y Promoción de la Salud, Madrid, Spain
2 Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Clinico, Barcelona, Spain
3 Nicotine Dependence Centre, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester MN, USA
4 Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Fundación de Alcorcon, Madrid, Spain
5 Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain
6 Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Clinico, Valencia, Spain
Correspondence: Carlos A. Jiménez-Ruiz, C/Santa Cruz del Marcenado, 9, Madrid 28015, Spain, tel: +34 91 20529 60, fax: +34 91 204 49 72, e-mail: victorina{at}ctv.es; carlos.jimenez{at}salud.madrid.org
Received January 21, 2008 , accepted June 19, 2008
Background: In 2005, the Spanish parliament passed the Spanish anti-smoking law. This legislation restricted tobacco smoking in public places, including recreation venues (bars and restaurants), but smoking was not completely prohibited in bars and restaurants. The law was enforced in January 2006. With the objective of analysing the impact that this law has had on the general Spanish population, the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) designed and implemented a survey of a representative sample of the general Spanish population on two separate occasions: in 2005 and in 2007 (12 months after the ban came into effect). Methods: Two epidemiological, observational and cross-sectional surveys were performed among a random and representative sample of the general Spanish population, using the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview system. Results: In the first survey, a total of 6533 subjects were interviewed, of whom 3907 (59.8%) were non-smokers and in the second, a total of 3289 subjects were interviewed, of whom 2174 (65.9%) were non-smokers. The overall prevalence of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) decreased from 49.5% in 2005 to 37.9% in 2007 (22% reduction). The greatest reduction in prevalence of ETS exposure was in workplaces (from 25.8% to 11%, a decrease of 58.8%). Smaller reductions occurred in the home (from 29.5% to 21.4%, a decrease of 27%) and in recreation venues (from 37.4% to 31.8%, a decrease of 8%). Conclusions: Implementation of the smoking ban resulted in a significant decrease in exposure to ETS.
Keywords: anti-smoking regulations, evaluation