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Oliver JF. The impact of smoke-free air laws and conventional cigarette taxes on cardiovascular hospitalizations. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 4 September 2021. ntab158

https://academic.oup.com/ntr/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ntr/ntab158/6364115?redirectedFrom=fulltext

“Analyses used 2005-2014 hospital inpatient discharge data from up to 40 US states to estimate the effects of smoke-free air laws and conventional cigarette taxes on cardiovascular hospitalizations among working-age and older adults….”

“An increase in the percent of a county’s population covered by smoke-free air laws yielded a significant decline of 2.4% (RR: 0.976, 95%CI: 0.954, 0.997) in acute cerebrovascular disease hospitalizations among older adults. Moreover, significant declines of 2.0% (RR: 0.980, 95%CI: 0.967, 0.994) and 2.8% (RR: 0.972, 95%CI:0.949, 0.996) in acute cerebrovascular disease were observed among older adults in the first year and subsequent years after smoke-free air legislation was implemented, respectively. Conventional cigarette taxes did not yield a significant change in acute cerebrovascular disease hospitalizations, nor did either tobacco control policy lead to a significant decline in acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations.”

Conclusion: Smoke-free air laws play an important role in reducing adult cardiovascular hospitalizations. These findings confirm existing research on acute cerebrovascular disease outcomes, as well as the modest effects on acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations observed in state- and national-level analyses.

Comment: Those who die from a myocardial infarct (heart attack) likely won’t be hospitalized. Secondhand smoke exposure can result in acute heart failure.

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Stephen Hamann