NLM Director's Comments Transcript
Indoor Air Laws Curb Prenatal Smoking?: 01/30/2012

Greetings from the National Library of Medicine and MedlinePlus.gov
Regards to all our listeners!
I'm Rob Logan, Ph.D. senior staff National Library of Medicine for Donald Lindberg, M.D, the Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Here is what's new this week in MedlinePlus.

The likelihood women in Massachusetts smoked during pregnancy was reduced if they lived in a city with laws that prohibited some indoor smoking, suggests an interesting study recently published in BMJ.com.

The study compared the prenatal smoking habits of the nearly 64,000 residents in 351 Massachusetts cities, who gave birth in 2002. In addition to the latter, researchers compared information from data sets -- such as information from birth certificates about demographics, geography, and smoking habits during pregnancy, as well as tobacco-related policies in Massachusetts cities.

The authors note the study is the first to assess if indoor smoking policies impact prenatal smoking via an analysis that statistically accounts for a range of possible influences.

While Massachusetts banned indoor smoking in public buildings statewide in 2004, the study’s four authors explain in 2002 some cities had laws that barred indoor smoking and some did not. In 2002, the authors add the length of time since the passage of city-sponsored indoor smoking bans also varied widely throughout Massachusetts. Some of the state’s municipal laws that banned or curbed indoor smoking were somewhat new in 2002 and some were well-established.

Interestingly, the study found pregnant women who lived in a Massachusetts city that curbed indoor smoking were significantly less likely to smoke than pregnant women who lived in a Massachusetts city without a similar ordinance.

Moreover, the likelihood pregnant women would not smoke was associated with the length of time a city’s indoor smoking ban was in effect. Women who lived in a municipality with a smoking ban for more than two years were even less likely to smoke during pregnancy than those who lived in a city where a similar law was a year old.

Hence, both the existence and longevity of an indoor smoking ban ordinance were associated with curbing prenatal smoking.

The study also found an association between a municipal indoor smoking ban and the likelihood of not smoking during pregnancy remained statistically significant after controlling for other, related explanations, such as demographic factors (age or ethnicity) and a city’s population size.

Overall, the authors note the study suggests the value of clean indoor air policies on reducing smoking and improving individual and public health. The authors write (and we quote): ‘as more places enact some type of provision that restricts smoking, it is important to document the differential impact of tobacco control initiatives on the smoking behaviors of diverse populations’ (end of quote).

MedlinePlus.gov’s Pregnancy and Substance Abuse health topic page provides an overview of smoking and pregnancy (from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) within the ‘statistics’ section. The March of Dimes adds a good overview of the impact of smoking during pregnancy within the ‘overviews’ section of MedlinePlus.gov’s Pregnancy and Substance Abuse health topic page.

Information about how states regulate tobacco is available in the ‘law and policy’ section of MedlinePlus.gov’s smoking health topic page. More information about smoking and tobacco use by state is provided in websites from the National Cancer Institute’s Tobacco Control Research Branch and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which are both available in the ‘statistics’ section of
MedlinePlus.gov’s smoking health topic page.

The ‘Women’ section within MedlinePlus.gov’s smoking health topic page also provides considerable, tailored information about women and tobacco use.

MedlinePlus.gov’s smoking (and pregnancy and substance abuse) health topic pages contain other, updated research summaries, which are available in their respective ‘research’ sections. Links to the latest pertinent journal research articles are available in the ‘journal articles’ section. Links to related clinical trials that may be occurring in your area are available in the respective ‘clinical trials’ section.

To find MedlinePlus.gov’s smoking health topic page, type ‘smoking’ in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov’s home page, then, click on ‘smoking (National Library of Medicine).’ To find MedlinePlus.gov’s pregnancy and substance health topic page, type ‘pregnancy and drug abuse’ in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov’s home page, then, click on ‘pregnancy and substance abuse (National Library of Medicine).’

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A disclaimer – the information presented in this program should not replace the medical advice of your physician. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any disease without first consulting with your physician or other health care provider. I want to take the opportunity to wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy New Year. The National Library of Medicine and the 'Director's Comments' podcast staff, including Dr. Lindberg, appreciate your interest and company – and we hope to find new ways to serve you in 2012.

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