Asthma Admissions Drop After Smoking Ban

BY MARY ANN MOON
Elsevier Global Medical News

Pediatric hospitalizations for asthma decreased by approximately 20% per year after a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces was enacted in Scotland, said Daniel Mackay, Ph.D., of the University of Glasgow and associates.

Before the legislation was implemented, there was concern that people might transfer their smoking from public areas to their homes, “leading paradoxically to an increase in exposure … among children,” they said (N. Engl. J. Med. 2010; 363:1139-45). Such displacement of smoking activity did not occur. Instead, the results support the conclusion of another study that found that a public smoking ban increased voluntary smoking restrictions in homes as well, the authors said.

They used government databases to identify all 21,415 asthma admissions across Scotland from January 2000 through October 2009 for children younger than 15 years. From 2000 until implementation of the smoking ban in 2006, hospital admissions for asthma rose a risk-adjusted average of 4.4% per year.

After the smoking ban was enacted, the risk-adjusted annual rate of pediatric asthma admissions declined 19.5%, a statistically significant difference. The net annual reduction was 15.1% per year. NHS Health Scotland funded the study. The investigators had no conflicts of interest.

Dr. Burt Lesnick, FCCP, comments:
This study adds evidence that smoking restrictions in public areas improves the health of nonsmokers. If a clinically significant reduction in pediatric asthma hospitalizations can be achieved with tobacco smoke reductions in public areas, imagine the possible effects if this exposure were reduced in homes.