Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110570

Megan Sheffer, MPH, College of Dentistry, Universiyt of Iowa, N411 DSB, Iowa City, IA 52242, 319-335-7611, msheffer_01@hotmail.com, Christopher Squier, PhD, DSc, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, OFFICE OF THE PROVOST, 2139B WL, Iowa City, IA 52242, Eileen L. Fisher, PhD, C.A.F.E. Johnson County, 164 Hummingbird Ln, Iowa City, IA 52245, and Michelle Larson, PhD, College of Dentistry/Dows, University of Iowa, N439F DSB, Iowa City, IA 52242.

Objectives: Smoke-free environments facilitate a reduction in tobacco use and exposure to smoke. As a public health measure, the Iowa City Council passed a smoke-free dining ordinance that became effective March 1, 2002. Despite, widespread community support the concern of economic loss persisted among local businesses. The goal of this study was to assess the economic effect of the Iowa City smoke-free dining ordinance using food service establishment licenses as an indicator of the number of restaurants. Methods: Restaurant permit licesnsure data for Iowa City and Coralville (the control city which did not enact an ordinance) from 1997 to March 2003, was obtained from the Johnson County Public Health Department. The ratio of Iowa City to Coralville restaurants and the annual rate of change were calculated and data were analyzed by Fisher's exact probability test. Results: The absolute number of Iowa City restaurants increased and those in Coralville remained constant throughout the Iowa City ordinance period. However, the difference in absolute numbers of restaurants between the cities necessitates the use of the ratio of the total number of restaurants in Iowa City to the total number of restaurants in both Iowa City and Coralville as a basis for comparison. This ratio remained stable and the proportion of restaurants for each city did not differ signficantly (p=0.38) during the ordinance period or in the prior year (p=0.77) Conclusion: The results indicated that the Iowa City smoke-free restaurant ordinance did not adversely affect the local restaurant industry in terms of restaurant closures.

Learning Objectives:

• Development of alternative strategies to readily assess the economic impact of smoke-free dining ordinances.

Keywords: Tobacco Control, Tobacco Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.