Changes in U.S. Hospitalization and Mortality Rates Following Smoking Bans

Kanaka D. Shetty, Thomas DeLeire, Chapin White, Jayanta Bhattacharya

NBER Working Paper No. 14790
Issued in March 2009
NBER Program(s):   HC   HE

U.S. state and local governments are increasingly restricting smoking in public places. This paper analyzes nationally representative databases, including the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, to compare short-term changes in mortality and hospitalization rates in smoking-restricted regions with control regions. In contrast with smaller regional studies, we find that workplace bans are not associated with statistically significant short-term declines in mortality or hospital admissions for myocardial infarction or other diseases. An analysis simulating smaller studies using subsamples reveals that large short-term increases in myocardial infarction incidence following a workplace ban are as common as the large decreases reported in the published literature.

(305 K)

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Published: Kanaka D. Shetty & Thomas DeLeire & Chapin White & Jayanta Bhattacharya, 2011. "Changes in U.S. hospitalization and mortality rates following smoking bans," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 6-28, December.

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Acknowledgments

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