Abstract
BACKGROUND: Smoke-free laws reduce disease prevalence. The impact of municipal smoke-free laws on lung cancer incidence in Kentucky was examined. The authors hypothesized that lung cancer incidence rates would be associated with the strength of smoke-free laws. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of 83,727 Kentucky residents aged ≥ 50 years who were newly diagnosed with lung cancer from 1995 to 2014. In 2014, 33 municipalities had 1 or more smoke-free laws. County-level characteristics included adult smoking rate, sex, race/ethnicity, income, physician supply, observed radon values, and rurality. RESULTS: Individuals living in communities with comprehensive smoke-free laws were 7.9% less likely than those living in communities without smoke-free protections to be diagnosed with lung cancer. The difference in lung cancer incidence between counties with moderate/weak laws and those without laws was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive smoke-free laws were associated with fewer new cases of lung cancer, whereas weak or moderate smoke-free laws did not confer the same benefit. One hundred percent smoke-free laws, covering all workers and the public with few or no exceptions, may be key in reducing new cases of lung cancer. Cancer 2018;124:374-80.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 374-380 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Cancer |
Volume | 124 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 15 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Ellen J. Hahn reports grants from the Kentucky Department for Public Health Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program and from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, outside the submitted work. The remaining authors made no disclosures.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Cancer Society
Funding
Ellen J. Hahn reports grants from the Kentucky Department for Public Health Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program and from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, outside the submitted work. The remaining authors made no disclosures.
Funders | Funder number |
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Kentucky Department for Public Health Tobacco |
Keywords
- lung neoplasms
- primary prevention
- risk factors
- smoke-free policy
- smoking
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research