Smoking Ban Indoors Decreases Hospital Visits for Children with Asthma

According to a study, the ban on indoor smoking has reduced the number of emergency department visits for children with asthma.

Researchers, led by Christina Ciaccio with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, performed a retrospective analysis on 20 hospitals in 14 different states and the District of Columbia between July 2000 to January 2014. They obtained data from the Pediatric Health Information System, and used a Poisson regression model to analyze and control for age, sex, race, payer source, secular trends, and seasonality.
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Their findings showed that indoor smoking legislation from every city was associated with a decrease in asthma exacerbation in children and a decrease in visits to the emergency department with an adjusted ratio of .83, and a 95% confidence interval.

The study indicates that the implementation of indoor tobacco legislation is associated with the decrease in emergency department visits for children with asthma. “Such legislation should be considered in localities that remain without this legislation to protect the respiratory health of their children,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Ciaccio CE, Gurley-Calvez T, Shireman TI. Indoor tobacco legislation is associated with fewer emergency department visits for asthma exacerbation in children. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 117 (6): 641-645.