The association between smoking bans and nicotine dependence: a longitudinal analysis of current smokers in Canada

While a substantial body of research has examined the effects of smoking bans on smoking behavior, little is known about the relationship between smoking bans and nicotine dependence. The objective of this study was to examine whether home and workplace smoking bans are associated with reduced nicotine dependence among continuing smokers.

We used longitudinal data of 1073 adult daily smokers from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (2004-2010). Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the association between smoking bans and nicotine dependence.

Smokers living in homes where smoking is restricted were less likely to be nicotine dependent (OR=0.40, 95% CI=0.32-0.50) than smokers living in homes with no such smoking restriction. Workplace smoking policies had no significant association with nicotine dependence (complete ban: OR=0.79, 95% CI=0.56-1.11; partial ban: OR=0.82, 95% CI=0.57-1.16). There was some evidence that workplace smoking bans were significantly associated with nicotine dependence when single items of the Fagerstrom test were considered.

This paper demonstrates that the presence of a home smoking ban was associated with lower nicotine dependence among continuing smokers. The relationship of workplace bans with nicotine dependence was less clear and was contingent on the measure of nicotine dependence employed. These findings further confirm the importance of bans on smoking in the home, workplace, and other public places on reducing tobacco-related harms.