title: The impact of the 2002 Delaware smoking ordinance on heart attack and asthma.
abstract: In the United States, smoking is the leading cause of death - having a mortality rate of approximately 435,000 people in 2000-accounting for 8.1% of all US deaths recorded that year. Consequently, we analyzed the Delaware Hospital Discharge Database, and identified state and non-state residents discharged with AMI or asthma for the years 1999 to 2004. Statistical data analysis compared the incidence of AMI or asthma for each group before (1999-2002) and after (2003-2004) the amendment. As a result, we found that pre-ordinance and post-ordinance quarterly rates of AMI for Delaware residents were 451 (se = 21) and 430 (se = 21) respectively, representing a 4.7% reduction. Over the same time period, there was negligible change in the incidence of AMI for non-Delaware residents. After adjusting for population growth, the Risk Ratio (RR) for asthma in Delaware residents post-ordinance was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.90 to 0.999), which represented a significant reduction (P = 0.046). By comparison, non-Delaware residents had an increased RR for asthma post-ordinance of 1.62 (95% CI, 1.46 to 1.86; P < 0.0001).The results suggest that Delaware's comprehensive non-smoking ordinance effectively was associated with a statistically significant decrease in the incidence of AMI and asthma in Delaware residents when compared to non-Delaware residents.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5E5, Canada. john.moraros@usask.ca
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moraros
authors.forename: Yelena
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Shande
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buckingham
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Meltzer
authors.forename: Surasri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prapasiri
authors.forename: Luis H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Solis
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003691:Delaware / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011640:Public Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution