Estimating Smoking-related Costs in Multi-unit Housing: Comparing Two Survey Approaches

Audience: smoke-free multi-unit housing (MUH) advocates, researchers, policymakers.

Key Points: There has not been a prior systematic attempt to collect information on MUH smoking-related costs. We developed and compared two series of questions to estimate MUH smoking-related costs. We surveyed by telephone 343 California MUH owners and managers and asked them to estimate the costs incurred 1) over the past year due to smoking-related damages on the entire property with the most recently vacated unit, and 2) over the past five years due to smoking-related damages in the most recently vacated unit. The mean smoking-related past year property operation costs were $4,935 (SD = $11,334, median = $2,000); most smoking-related costs were due to cleaning, painting or decorating, and repairs and maintenance. The mean smoking-related operating costs for the most recently vacated unit in the past five years were $1,874 (SD = $2,905, median = $775); most smoking-related costs were due to painting interiors or replacing carpets. Smoking-related costs for the most recently vacated unit in the past five years were more than 5 times higher than the per-unit smoking-related costs in the past year (mean $282, median $67).

Educational Experience: The audience will review the cost categories from the survey questions, the survey methodology, and the survey results.

Benefits: Smoking-related MUH costs are substantial, whether asked at the property or the unit level. The findings suggest that the per-unit past year smoking-related costs are likely an underestimate, since they are averaged across both units with and without smoking-related costs.