Association of indoor smoke-free air laws with hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction and stroke in three states.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether comprehensive smoke-free air laws enacted in Florida, New York, and Oregon are associated with reductions in hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke.


METHODS
Analyzed trends in county-level, age-adjusted, hospital admission rates for AMI and stroke from 1990 to 2006 (quarterly) for Florida, 1995 to 2006 (monthly) for New York, and 1998 to 2006 (monthly) for Oregon to identify any association between admission rates and passage of comprehensive smoke-free air laws. Interrupted time series analysis was used to adjust for the effects of preexisting moderate local-level laws, seasonal variation in hospital admissions, differences across counties, and a secular time trend.


RESULTS
More than 3 years after passage of statewide comprehensive smoke-free air laws, rates of hospitalization for AMI were reduced by 18.4% (95% CI: 8.8-28.0%) in Florida and 15.5% (95% CI: 11.0-20.1%) in New York. Rates of hospitalization for stroke were reduced by 18.1% (95% CI: 9.3-30.0%) in Florida. The few local comprehensive laws in Oregon were not associated with reductions in AMI or stroke statewide.


CONCLUSIONS
Comprehensive smoke-free air laws are an effective policy tool for reducing the burden of AMI and stroke.
RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, P.O. Box 12194, NC 27709, USA. loomis@rti.org
Brett R
BR
Loomis
Harlan R
HR
Juster
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution