title: The smoking ban next door: do hospitality businesses in border areas have reduced sales after a statewide smoke-free policy?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite numerous studies demonstrating no significant economic effects on hospitality businesses following a statewide smoke-free (SF) policy, regional concerns suggest that areas near states without SF policies may experience a loss of hospitality sales across the border. The present study evaluated the impact of Ohio's statewide SF policy on taxable restaurant and bar sales in border and non-border areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spline regression analysis was used to assess changes in monthly taxable sales at the county level in full-service restaurants and bars in Ohio. Data were analyzed from four years prior to policy implementation to three years post-policy. Change in the differences in the slope of taxable sales for border (n = 21) and non-border (n = 67) counties were evaluated for changes following the statewide SF policy enforcement, adjusted for unemployment rates, general trends in the hospitality sector, and seasonality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for covariates, there was no statistically significant change in the difference in slope for taxable sales for either restaurants (β = 0.9, p = 0.09) or bars (β = 0.2, p = 0.07) following the SF policy for border areas compared to non-border areas of Ohio.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Border regions in Ohio did not experience a significant change in bar and restaurant sales compared to non-border areas following a statewide SF policy. Results support that Ohio's statewide SF policy did not impact these two areas differently, and provide additional evidence for the continued use of SF policies to provide protection from exposure to secondhand smoke for both workers and the general public.
authors.affiliation: Ohio State University College of Public Health, Health Behavior & Health Promotion, 352 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States. Electronic address: eklein@cph.osu.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: CPO Management, 910 East Broad St, Columbus, OH 43205, United States. Electronic address: nhood@cpoms.org.
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Hood
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009820:Ohio; D012147:Restaurants / Q000191:economics*; D061845:Smoke-Free Policy / Q000191:economics*; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013660:Taxes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
keywords: Secondhand smoke; Smoke-free policy; Tobacco