Full and home smoking ban adoption after a randomized controlled trial targeting secondhand smoke exposure reduction

Introduction: The current study examined home and full (i.e., home plus car) smoking ban adoption as secondary outcomes to a randomized controlled trial targeting reduced secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) for children under treatment for cancer. Methods: Families with at least 1 adult smoker who reported SHSe for their children (n = 119) were randomized to control or intervention conditions and followed for 1 year with 5 assessments. Both groups were advised of the negative health outcomes associated with SHSe; the intervention group provided more in-depth counseling from baseline to 3 months. Parents reported on household and car smoking behavior, demographic, psychosocial, and medical/treatment-related information. Results: Regardless of group assignment, there was an increase in home (odds ration [OR] = 1.16, p = .074) and full (OR = 1.37, p = .001) smoking ban adoption across time. Families in the intervention group were more likely to adopt a full ban by 3 months, but this difference was nonsignificant by 12 months. Married parents (OR = 2.33, p = .006) and those with higher self-efficacy for controlling children's SHSe (OR = 1.11, p = .023) were more likely to have a home smoking ban; parents who reported smoking fewer cigarettes were more likely to adopt a home (OR = 1.62, p < .0001) or full (OR = 7.32, p = .038) ban. Conclusions: Smoking bans are in-line with Healthy People 2020's tobacco objectives and may be more feasible for parents with medically compromised children for immediate SHSe reduction. Furthermore, interventions targeting full smoking bans may be a more effective for comprehensive elimination of SHSe. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.