Home smoking bans among U.S. households with children and smokers. Opportunities for intervention

Public health campaigns have reduced the exposure of U.S. children to secondhand smoke at home; however, these may not have been equally effective across subgroups.

To examine prevalence of home smoking bans among U.S. households with both children and smokers, over time and by demographic subgroups.

The Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) is a nationally representative household survey of tobacco use. The 1992/1993 and 2006/2007 TUS-CPS interviewed 22,746 households from a major racial/ethnic group with both children and adult smokers. Predictors of complete home smoking bans among demographic subgroups were identified using multivariate logistic regression. Analyses were conducted in 2010-2011.

Complete home smoking bans among U.S. households with children and smokers (smoking families) more than tripled, from 14.1% in 1992/1993 to 50.0% in 2006/2007. However, non-Hispanic white and African-American smoking families lagged behind Asian/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics. In 2006/2007, 67.2% of African-American smoking families allowed smoking in the home, as did 59.2% of smoking families with all children aged ≥14 years. Bans were more likely among more-educated households and in states with lower adult smoking prevalence; however, these differences were attenuated in some racial/ethnic groups.

As of 2006/2007, only half of U.S. households with both children and smokers had complete home smoking bans. Home bans were less common among smoking families with older children, in African-American households, and in Hispanic or non-Hispanic white households in states with high smoking prevalence. Interventions are needed to promote smoke-free homes among these groups.