Policy Support for Smoke-Free and E-Cigarette Free Multiunit Housing

Am J Health Promot. 2022 Jan;36(1):106-116. doi: 10.1177/08901171211035210. Epub 2021 Aug 4.

Abstract

Purpose: Estimate public support for prohibiting multiunit housing (MUH) e-cigarette and cigarette use.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Data from an online panel survey.

Sample: A Fall 2018 nationally representative sample of 3,415 (99.3% response rate) United States (US) adults 18-64 years old.

Measures: Policy support for prohibiting MUH smoking and e-cigarette use, sociodemographics, and tobacco perceptions and behaviors.

Analysis: Weighted multivariate logistic regression examined predictors of support for prohibiting 1) cigarette use and 2) e-cigarette use in MUH.

Results: Most respondents expressed support for prohibiting smoking (76.9%) and e-cigarette use (74.0%) in MUH. About 17% (n = 588) of the sample lived in MUH, and living in MUH was not predictive of support for either policy. For both cigarette and e-cigarette policies, current smokers (n = 630; OR = 0.44, p < 0.001; OR = 0.59, p < 0.01) and current e-cigarette users (n = 305; OR = 0.42, p < 0.001; OR = 0.22, p < 0.001) had lower odds of support. Notably, while most smokers supported prohibiting cigarette (51.4%) and e-cigarette use in MUH (51.1%), there was less support among current e-cigarette users for prohibiting cigarette (48.1%) and e-cigarette use in MUH (34.5%).

Conclusion: Majority support for prohibiting smoking and e-cigarette use in MUH is promising for policy adoption; however, lower support of both policies among e-cigarette users needs to be examined, as increasing use of e-cigarettes may be shifting social norms away from support for smoke free housing policies.

Keywords: community; health policy; low income; racial minority groups; tobacco control.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems*
  • Housing
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Smoke-Free Policy*
  • Tobacco Smoke Pollution*
  • United States
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Tobacco Smoke Pollution