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Changes in U.S. hospitalization and mortality rates following smoking bans
Author(s) -
Shetty Kanaka D.,
DeLeire Thomas,
White Chapin,
Bhattacharya Jayanta
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.20548
Subject(s) - medicine , myocardial infarction , smoking ban , incidence (geometry) , environmental health , smoking prevalence , demography , mortality rate , tobacco control , public health , emergency medicine , population , physics , nursing , sociology , optics
U.S. state and local governments have increasingly adopted restrictions on smoking in public places. This paper analyzes nationally representative databases, including the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, to compare short‐term changes in mortality and hospitalization rates in smoking‐restricted regions with control regions. In contrast with smaller regional studies, we find that smoking bans are not associated with statistically significant short‐term declines in mortality or hospital admissions for myocardial infarction or other diseases. An analysis simulating smaller studies using subsamples reveals that large short‐term increases in myocardial infarction incidence following a smoking ban are as common as the large decreases reported in the published literature. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.