Smoke-Free Home Rule Adoption by Smoker Groups: 1999-2010

Audience: Tobacco control researchers, state program managers and policy experts will benefit from this poster.

Key Points: Smoke-free workplace policies have successfully limited indoor exposure to secondhand smoke. Exposure still exists in other indoor locations, most notably in the home. Using data from the Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey (MATS), a statewide, cross-sectional, random digit dial telephone based survey, trends in adopting smoke-free home rules were monitored over time. The prevalence of smoke-free home rules adoption among all Minnesotans increased significantly between each of four survey time points: 1999 (64.5%), 2003 (74.8%), 2007 (83.2%), 2010 (87.2%) (p<0.05). Smoking status and whether or not someone lives with a smoker, can impact the presence of a smoke-free home rules. While smokers tended to adopt smoke-free home rules at rates lower than non-smokers, the percentage of smoke-free home rules among smokers in Minnesota nearly doubled between 1999 (31.4%) and 2010 (58.1%) (p<0.05). Strikingly, the percentage of smoke-free home rules among smokers who live with another smoker also increased from 20.4% in 1999 to 54.9% in 2010 (p<0.05). Such trends are notable as virtually all public tobacco control efforts were aimed at passing smoke-free workplace policies. These findings demonstrate positive changes in social norms and suggest that behavior change in public settings might also be translated into practice in private settings.

Educational Experience: Participants will have the opportunity to review the findings and discuss implications.

Benefits: Smoke-free policies in the workplace have a social normative impact on the adoption of voluntary smoke-free home rules.