Do Smoke-Free Laws in Rural, Distressed Counties Encourage Cessation?

• Published in: Policy, politics & nursing practice Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 302 - 308
• Main Authors: Hahn, Ellen J., Rayens, Mary Kay, Langley, Ronald E., Adkins, Sarah M., Dignan, Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-11-2010; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Bans; Cessation; Chi-Square Distribution; Cigarettes; Counties; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demography; Drug dependency; Female; Health disparities; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medically Underserved Area; Middle Aged; Nicotine; Nursing; Passive smoking; Policy making; Poverty; Quasi-experimental methods; Reference Values; Risk Factors; Rural communities; Rural Health Services; Rural Population; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Smoking - legislation & jurisprudence; Smoking cessation; Smoking Cessation - legislation & jurisprudence; Social norms; Socioeconomic Factors; Tobacco smoke; United States; Workplaces; Young Adult; United States; outcomes measurement; rural health; health disparities
• ISSN: 1527-1544; 1552-7468
• DOI: 10.1177/1527154410397707

The authors examined the association between smoke-free laws and smoking/cessation behaviors and secondhand smoke exposure among current and former smokers in rural, distressed counties. A quasi-experimental, two-group design compared outcomes between participants from a county with a longstanding smoke-free law (n = 252) and those living in four demographically similar counties without smoke-free laws ( n = 250). Participants were recruited using random digit dialing. Controlling for demographic factors, those in the treatment group reported greater nicotine dependence, were more likely to have smoke-free workplaces, and less likely to have smoke-free homes. There were no differences in smoking status, past-year quit attempts, intent to quit in 5 years, cigarettes per day, or time since last cigarette. Smokers in the treatment group were just as likely to attempt to quit, despite greater nicotine dependence. Findings showed that making nonsmoking the social norm through policy change may be more difficult in rural, distressed areas.