Trends in environmental tobacco smoke restrictions in the home in Victoria, Australia

Objective-To assess the extent to which smokers and non-smokers in Victoria , Australia attempt to keep their homes smoke free and to determine whether the proportion of people attempting to do so has changed over time. Methods-Face to face surveys conducted in Victoria each year from 1989 to 1 997. Participants-Approximately 2500 randomly selected adults each year. Main outcome measures-Proportion of respondents who discourage their visito rs from smoking; proportion of smokers who always smoke outside their own h omes; behaviour of smokers when they are around children. Changes in each o f these measures over time. Results-Reports of visitors being discouraged from smoking rose from 27% in 1989 to 53% in 1997. Smokers who reported always smoking outside the home rose from 20% in 1995 to 28% in 1997. Not smoking in the presence of childr en rose from 14% in 1989 to 33% in 1996. Indoor restrictions on smoking wer e associated with the presence of children in the household and even more s trongly with the presence of non-smoking adults. People who worked in place s where smoking was totally banned were more Likely to ask their visitors n ot to smoke than those who worked where smoking was allowed. Conclusions-The results indicate a strong move towards homes and towards pr otecting children from smoke. Efforts to support and facilitate this social change should be further encouraged.