Communities with tobacco control policies are smarter communities: The correlation between tobacco control policies and educational indicators at state and local levels

The association between smoking and education is well-established. Smoking among less educated individuals continues to remain high and increases health disparities. An ecological analysis was used to examine the relationship between tobacco control policies and educational outcomes. Cross-sectional data from 2006-2008 was accessed from the US Census Bureau (local educational attainment), CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (smoking prevalence; educational attainment), Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), and National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) (youth prevalence), National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) (graduation rates), CDC's State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) system (excise taxes), and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights' (ANR) (smoke-free laws). To test the statistical significance between tobacco control policies and educational outcomes, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used, controlling for poverty and smoking prevalence. Almost 4% more adults in states with comprehensive smoke-free laws had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to states with no smoke-free laws (36.7% v. 33.1%, p < 0.05). Among youth, the percentage of high school graduates was 4.3% higher among states with moderate cigarette taxes ($0.81-$1.60) compared to states with low cigarette taxes ($0.07-$0.80) (77.8% v. 73.5%, p < 0.05). Our data suggests an association between state-level tobacco control policies and educational attainment among adults and graduation rates among youth, regardless of smoking prevalence. Data on race/ethnicity and local-level estimates will also be presented. These findings suggest that tobacco control policies not only impact smoking rates, but are also linked with other indicators, including educational attainment.