Declines in hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction in new york state after implementation of a comprehensive smoking ban

H.R. Juster, B.R. Loomis, T.M. Hinman, M.C. Farrelly, A. Hyland, U.E. Bauer and G.S. Birkhead

American Journal of Public Health, 2007, vol. 97, issue 11, 2035-2039

Abstract: Objectives. Reductions in exposure to environmental tobacco smoke have been shown to attenuate the risk of cardiovascular disease. We examined whether the 2003 implementation of a comprehensive smoking ban in New York State was associated with reduced hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction and stroke, beyond the effect of moderate, local and statewide smoking restrictions, and independent of secular trends. Methods. We analyzed trends in county-level, age-adjusted, monthly hospital admission rates for acute myocardial infarction and stroke from 1995 to 2004 to identify any association between admission rates and implementation of the smoking ban. We used regression models to adjust for the effects of pre-existing smoking restrictions, seasonal trends in admissions, differences across counties, and secular trends. Results. In 2004, there were 3813 fewer hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction than would have been expected in the absence of the comprehensive smoking ban. Direct health care cost savings of $56 million were realized in 2004. There was no reduction in the number of admissions for stroke. Conclusions. Hospital admission rates for acute myocardial infarction were reduced by 8% as a result of a comprehensive smoking ban in New York State after we controlled for other relevant factors. Comprehensive smoking bans constitute a simple, effective intervention to substantially improve the public's health.

Date: 2007
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2006.099994

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2006.099994_5

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.099994

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().