An epidemiological study on the effectiveness of workplace smoking control programs

The workplace is an important field for smoking control, but there are relatively few reports on the current situation of workplace smoking control with the exception of reports from North-American countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of workplace smoking control programs on the smoking prevalence among Japanese workers. A self-administered questionnaire regarding workplace smoking control programs was sent to 531 workplaces and a total of 315 workplaces returned the questionnaire. The number of employees in the study sample was 57,051 males and 19,818 females. The restriction of smoking area and/or time was found to be associated with a 13.1% and 44.5% decrease in smoking prevalence for males and females, respectively. The data were also analyzed, restricting to the workers in manufacturing industry which constituted the largest part of workers, in order to control a possible confounding arising from different characteristics among different industries. Restriction of smoking area and/or smoking time gave the largest effects of 15.4% and 36.2% lower prevalence in males and females, respectively. The differences observed in all female workers combined for individual consultation for smokers were also identified. In conclusion, it is suggested that workplace smoking control programs are effective at lowering the prevalence of workers who smoke.