Smoking Ban Policies in Italy and the Potential Impact of the So-Called Sirchia Law: State of the Art after Eight Years

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present work is to describe the state of the art of tobacco habits in Italy, eight years after the law was introduced. METHODS Time series analyses, based on estimates of smoking prevalence/consumption derived from the openly available data of national surveys performed during the 2001-2013 period, were performed. Data have been expressed in percentage of smokers and daily cigarettes consumption. Time changes are expressed as expected annual percentage change (EAPC). RESULTS Over time, the percentage of Italian smokers shows a constant and statistically significant decrease (from 28.9% in 2001 to 20.6% in 2013, EAPC = -2.6%, and P < 0.001). Regarding data stratified by gender, we found a stronger reduction among men (EAPC = -2.9%, P < 0.001) than in women (EAPC = -2.5%, P < 0.001). Similarly, the consumption of tobacco smoking, measured as the number of daily cigarettes smoked, registered a downward trend (P < 0.001). No join point (time point when a significant trend change is detected) resulted from the trend analysis. CONCLUSIONS Data show a constant decrease of tobacco consumption in Italy, with no join point related to the introduction of the banning law. These findings require to reflect on the priorities of the smoking banning policies that may be focused on other intervention activities such as to increase the price of cigarettes.