Ruth Dufresne presents at Breathe Easy Coalition Annual Meeting

Ruth Dufresne, SM, research associate and adjunct instructor for the School of Community and Population Health (SCPH), presented on the evaluation of secondhand smoke prevention efforts in Maine at the Breathe Easy Coalition Annual Meeting, which was held in Portland, Maine, on July 22, 2014.

Dufresne is the lead evaluator for the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine (PTM).

The presentation focused on a study that was published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, written by members of the Healthy Maine Partnerships (HMP) Evaluation Team at SCPH (Rebecca Murphy, PhD, MPH, and Patrick Madden, MS) and staff from PTM (Dorean Maines, MS, and Carol Coles). Other members of the HMP Evaluation Team who contributed to the evaluation that led to this study were: Praphul Joshi, BDS, MPH, PhD; Ruth Dufresne, SM; and Allison Morrill, JD, PhD.

This was the first study to examine the prevalence of reported smoke-free rules in private cars and homes prior to and after the passage of a state law that prohibits smoking in a car with passengers under age 16. Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-based telephone survey covering health topics, were analyzed.

The researchers found that the prevalence of smoke-free car and home rules among Maine adults was significantly higher after the passage of the smoke-free vehicle law. The authors note that the apparent change in smoke-free rule prevalence may indicate changes in social norms related to the harm caused by secondhand smoke exposure. In addition, associations with smoking behavior and demographic variables of age, gender, education, income, and children in household were assessed. They found that smoke-free rules were more common among females, high school graduates, and those with children in the home.