Rhode Island's Statewide Ban on Indoor Smoking Impacts AMI Hospitalizations

Rhode Island’s Ban on Indoor Smoking Impacts AMI Hospital Admissions Audience: Tobacco control professionals who work in state tobacco control programs and function as tobacco control program managers, evaluators, or policy analysts. Key Points: An expanding number of studies in the United States and other countries, and two meta-analyses, have demonstrated a decrease in the incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and asthma following the implementation of comprehensive smoking bans. In March 2005, Rhode Island implemented a comprehensive statewide ban on indoor smoking covering all enclosed public places of business. We used hospital discharge data to determine whether Rhode Island’s statewide smoking ban reduced hospital admission rates and associated costs for AMI and asthma. As with other studies, Rhode Island did find a significant decrease in hospital admissions for AMI after implementation of the ban but did not see a decrease in asthma admissions. The largest reduction in AMI hospitalization rates was seen during Phase 1 -the first two years of policy implementation, where between 2003 (pre-policy) and 2007 AMI rates decreased by 12% and represented a 17.1% decrease in total hospital costs. Educational Experience: participants will learn from the poster and from speaking with the presenter about the study the RI TCP conducted and will gain information about the research methods and results. Benefits: Inspired by learning about the growing body of literature on AMI reductions after bans on indoor smoking, participants will conduct similar studies in their own state or municipality.