Knowledge Bank

Background: Clean indoor air ordinances are being rapidly adopted across the United States to protect persons in public places from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. The private sphere can be partially protected by adopting a household smoking ban. Objective: To analyze the prevalence and adoption patterns of household smoking bans in Ohio. Design: The 2008 Ohio Family Health Survey collected data using random-digit-dialing methodology and cell phone sampling from more than 50,000 Ohio households that provided sociodemographic and health behavior data for analysis. Respondent, household, neighborhood and regional level data were examined to determine the prevalence of adopting a total household smoking ban. Basic descriptive statistics and chi square analyses were used to determine if there were differences in ban adoption by select characteristics. Results: The variables most closely associated with the adoption of household smoking bans included higher respondent education level, and the presence of children and other adults in a household. Being a current smoker was most negatively related to the adoption of a household smoking ban. Conclusions: Public health officials have done an excellent job promoting the adoption of household smoking bans. It may now be necessary to refocus future campaigns to target those populations that have lower household smoking ban adoption rates, namely those in rural Appalachia, blacks, and smokers.