The study draws data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a long-term, collaborative medical records project among healthcare providers in Olmsted County.
The population-based study showed that during the 18 months before Olmsted County’s first smoke-free law for restaurants was passed in 2002, the regional incidence of heart attack was 212.3 cases per 100,000 residents. In the 18 months following a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance in 2007, in which restaurants and workplaces became smoke-free, that rate dropped to 102.9 per 100,000 residents — a decrease of approximately 45 percent.
Researchers also found that during these two time periods, the incidence of sudden cardiac death fell from 152.5 to 76.6 per 100,000 residents — a 50 percent reduction. The study was presented to the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Orlando.
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