Published in

BMJ Publishing Group, BMJ Global Health, 10(8), p. e012339, 2023

DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012339

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Association between the extension of smoke-free legislation and incident acute myocardial infarctions in Singapore from 2010 to 2019: an interrupted time-series analysis

Journal article published in 2023 by Jamie S. Y. Ho, Andrew F. W. Ho, Eric Jou, Nan Liu ORCID, Huili Zheng, Joel Aik ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

BackgroundWe examined the association between smoke-free laws implemented in the outdoors and the common areas of residential apartment blocks and reported acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) in Singapore.MethodsWe used an interrupted time-series design and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models to examine the effect of the smoke-free law extensions in 2013 (common areas of residential blocks, covered pedestrian linkways, overhead bridges and within 5 m of bus stops), 2016 (parks) and 2017 (educational institutions, buses and taxis) on the monthly incidence rate of AMIs per 1 000 000 population.ResultsWe included 133 868 AMI reports from January 2010 to December 2019. Post-2013, there was a decrease in the AMI incidence trend (β=−0.6 per month, 95%CI −1.0 to –0.29) and 2097 (95% CI 2094 to 2100) more AMIs may have occurred without the extension. There was a significant step-decline in male AMIs and a non-significant step-increase in female AMIs post-2013. Those 65 years and older experienced a greater decline to the postlegislation 2013 trend (β=−5.9, 95% CI −8.7 to –3.1) compared with those younger (β=−0.4, 95% CI −0.6 to –0.2), while an estimated 19 591 (15 711 to 23472) additional AMI cases in those 65 years and above may have occurred without the extension. We found a step-increase in monthly AMI incidence post-2016 (β=14.2, 95%CI 3.3 to 25.0).ConclusionThe 2013 smoke-free law extension to residential estates and other outdoor areas were associated with a decline in AMIs and those above the age of 65 years and men appeared to be major beneficiaries. Additional epidemiological evidence is required to support the expanded smoke-free legislation to parks, educational institutions, buses and taxis.