Impact of Legislation on Passive Smoking in Spain

Abstract

Background: In 2005, the Spanish government approved Law 28/2005 on health measures against smoking; this was amended in 2010 by Law 42/2010. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of these laws on passive smoking. Methods: Three epidemiological studies were conducted on a representative sample of the population via telephone surveys. The first was conducted prior to the first law coming into force, the second a year after its approval and the third a year after the approval of the second.Results: Six thousand eight hundred people were surveyed in 2005, 3,289 in 2007 and 3,298 in 2011. The first survey showed that 49.5% of nonsmokers were exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) while by 2007, following the introduction of Law 28/2005, this exposure had been reduced to 37.9% (results previously published in 2008). The 2011 survey, conducted following the introduction of Law 42/2010, showed that just 21% of people were exposed. These data indicate that overall exposure to SHS was reduced by 22% between 2005 and 2007 and by a further 16.9% between 2007 and 2011. The overall impact of Law 42/2010 is estimated to be around 44% and Law 28/2005 around 22%. Conclusion: Legislation introduced in Spain has markedly reduced the exposure of nonsmokers to SHS.

Changes in the Prevalence of Tobacco Consumption and the Profile of Spanish Smokers after a Comprehensive Smoke-Free Policy

“…Furthermore, there is scarce evidence about the impact of the smoking laws on the prevalence of smoking [10]. Our results are in line with those of a similar study carried out in Spain in the general population in a similar period [11], but a slight decrease in prevalence was observed among Spanish workers [12]. The increase in the prevalence of tobacco consumption in the oldest groups is not a coincidence and reflects changes occurring in tobacco consumption in Spain, where women were mainly non-smokers until the 1980s.…”

Prevalence of and Attitudes towards Smoking among Spanish Health Professionals

“…It found that the rate of tobacco use among the physicians at these hospitals was 52.2% [12]. It may be deduced by comparing the data from our study to the data from a study by Reyes Urueña et al [8] that a reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use among Spanish health professionals started to become evident from the time the Spanish legislation regulating tobacco use was implemented [9,10,13]. …”

Assessment of salivary cotinine concentration among general non-smokers population: Before and after Spanish smoking legislations

“…Moreover, another longitudinal study, showed a significant decrease in the prevalence of selfdeclared SHS exposure at workplaces, during leisure time, at home, and public transport after the application of the two Spanish smoking legislations 25 . Other studies, carried out in Spain using questionnaire, showed a decrease in self-declared SHS exposure in all the studied settings after the application of the smoking legislations 16,26,27 . Similar results can be found in Ireland 28 , Scotland 29 , Italy 30 , and USA 31 .…”