Use of pharmacy data to evaluate smoking regulations' impact on sales of nicotine replacement therapies in New York City.
OBJECTIVE
Recently, New York City and New York State increased cigarette excise taxes and New York City implemented a smoke-free workplace law. To assess the impact of these policies on smoking cessation in New York City, we examined over-the-counter sales of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products.


METHODS
Pharmacy sales data were collected in real time as part of nontraditional surveillance activities. We used Poisson generalized estimating equations to analyze the effect of smoking-related policies on pharmacy-specific weekly sales of nicotine patches and gum. We assessed effect modification by pharmacy location.


RESULTS
We observed increases in NRT product sales during the weeks of the cigarette tax increases and the smoke-free workplace law. Pharmacies in low-income areas generally had larger and more persistent increases in response to tax increases than those in higher-income areas.


CONCLUSIONS
Real-time monitoring of existing nontraditional surveillance data, such as pharmacy sales of NRT products, can help assess the effects of public policies on cessation attempts. Cigarette tax increases and smoke-free workplace regulations were associated with increased smoking cessation attempts in New York City, particularly in low-income areas.
Metzger
Kristina B
KB
Bureau of Epidemiology Services, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 125 Worth St, Room 315, CN-6, New York, NY 10013, USA. kmetzger@health.nyc.gov
Mostashari
Farzad
F
Kerker
Bonnie D
BD
D006293:Health Promotion / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011640:Public Policy; D012907:Smoking / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013660:Taxes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019460:Tobacco Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014505:Urban Population; D017132:Workplace / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
D009538:Nicotine