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RESEARCH REPORT
Impact of the 2005 smoke-free policy in Italy on prevalence, cessation and intensity of smoking in the overall population and by educational group
Article first published online: 8 MAY 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03853.x
© 2012 The Authors. Addiction © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction
Additional Information
How to Cite
Federico, B., Mackenbach, J. P., Eikemo, T. A. and Kunst, A. E. (2012), Impact of the 2005 smoke-free policy in Italy on prevalence, cessation and intensity of smoking in the overall population and by educational group. Addiction, 107: 1677–1686. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03853.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 2 AUG 2012
- Article first published online: 8 MAY 2012
- Accepted manuscript online: 23 FEB 2012 12:00AM EST
- Submitted 24 October 2011; initial review completed 9 January 2012; final version accepted 15 February 2012
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Keywords:
- Educational status;
- Italy;
- smoke-free legislation;
- smoking cessation;
- smoking prevalence
ABSTRACT
Aims To estimate the immediate as well as the longer-term impact of the 2005 smoke-free law on smoking prevalence, cessation and intensity both in the overall population and separately by educational level.
Design Interrupted time–series analyses of 11 cross-sectional nationally representative surveys.
Setting Italy, 1999–2010.
Participants Adults aged 20–64 years.
Measurements For each year we computed the prevalence of current smoking, the quit ratio and the mean number of cigarettes smoked per day. All measures were standardized by age. Segmented linear regression analyses were performed for each smoking variable separately by sex.
Findings Among males, smoking prevalence decreased by 2.6% (P = 0.002) and smoking cessation increased by 3.3% (P = 0.006) shortly after the ban, but both measures tended to return to pre-ban values in the following years. This occurred among both highly and low-educated males. Among low-educated females, the ban was followed by a 1.6% decrease (P = 0.120) in smoking prevalence and a 4.5% increase in quit ratios (P < 0.001). However, these favourable trends reversed over the following years. Among highly educated females, trends in smoking prevalence and cessation were not altered by the ban. Among both males and females, long-term trends in the daily number of cigarettes, which were already declining well before the implementation of the policy, changed to a minor extent.
Conclusion The impact of the Italian smoke-free policy on smoking and inequalities in smoking was short-term. Smoke-free policies may not achieve the secondary effect of reducing smoking prevalence in the long term, and they may have limited effects on inequalities in smoking.