Hospital smoking bans and employee smoking behavior: results of a national survey

A more widespread adoption of smoking bans in workplaces could encourage more smokers to quit smoking altogether. Researchers interviewed 1,469 current or former smokers who worked in hospitals in 21 states and 920 current or former smokers who worked in workplaces in the community that did not have smoking bans. In 1993, the agency that accredits hospitals required all hospitals to be smoke-free. The quit rates among hospital employees one year after the smoking ban were almost twice as high as those in the community workers. Quit rates were even higher in hospitals that had voluntarily mandated smoking bans before 1993. Hospital employees also appeared to be further along on the smoking cessation cycle. For example, 30.5% were seriously thinking of quitting, compared to 23.4% in the community. Hospital employees who continued to smoke had reduced their daily cigarette consumption by an average of one cigarette. The hospital industry is the only industry that has implemented a nationwide smoking ban.
Objective--To examine the impact of workplace smoking bans on smoking behavior of employees. Participants.--A total of 1469 current or former smokers (interventon group) employed in smoke-free hospitals and 920 current or former smokers (comparison group) employed in non-smoke-free workplaces were surveyed to determine smoking behavior. Design.--This cross-sectional study is part of a larger, ongoing prospective study. The study design was quasi-experimental. We randomly selected sites consisting of a hospital and a corresponding community. Furthermore, we randomly selected subjects from hospitals and their corresponding communities. Main Outcome Measures.--Postban quit ratio and progression along the stages-of-change continuum. Methods.--The Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the postban quit ratio between the intervention and comparison groups. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel analysis of variance statistic was used to compare groups on the stages-of-change variables. Results.--Beginning with the smoking ban and continuing for 5 years after implementation, statistically significant differences in the postban quit ratio were observed between employees of smoke-free hospitals who were smokers and counterparts in the community (P