Perceived adult smoking prevalence,* acceptability of smoking in restaurants or bars,† and social acceptability of adult smoking in general‡ by strength of local restaurant smoking regulation§ among Massachusetts residents who eat out predominantly in their own town¶
| Strength of local restaurant smoking regulation§ | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak (%) | Medium (%) | Strong (%) | |
| *Having a lower perception of adult smoking prevalence in one’s town was defined as responding that “very few” or “less than half” of adults in one’s town smoke (compared to “about half”, “more than half,” or “almost all”). | |||
| †For personal acceptability of smoking in restaurants or bars, viewing smoking as personally unacceptable was defined as respondents stating that they think smoking in bars or restaurants should not be allowed at all (compared to being allowed anywhere or only in special sections). For perceived social acceptability of smoking in restaurants, viewing smoking as socially unacceptable was defined as respondents stating that they think adults in their town “disapprove a lot” of smoking in restaurants (compared to “disapprove a little” or “don’t mind”). | |||
| ‡For perceived social acceptability of adult smoking in general, viewing smoking as socially unacceptable was defined as respondents stating that they think adults in their town “disapprove a lot” of adult smoking (compared to “disapprove a little” or “don’t mind”). | |||
| §Strength of local restaurant smoking regulation was defined as strong if it banned smoking completely in all restaurants with no variances, medium if it banned smoking but allowed variances or restricted smoking to enclosed, separately ventilated areas, and weak if it required only designated smoking areas or did not restrict smoking at all. | |||
| ¶Respondents who responded “often” or “always” to the question “When you go out to eat, how often do you go out to restaurants in [TOWN]?”. | |||
| **Unadjusted odds ratio that reflects the likelihood of having a perception of lower smoking prevalence or viewing smoking as socially unacceptable, based on bivariate analysis (regulation strength as only covariate) using GEE to account for town level clustering. | |||
| CI, confidence interval. | |||
| Total youths (n = 1147) | 744 (64.9%) | 231 (20.1%) | 172 (15.0%) |
| Total adults (n = 2116) | 1444 (68.3%) | 422 (19.9%) | 250 (11.8%) |
| Perceived adult smoking prevalence* | |||
| Perceived prevalence of adult smoking* in town | |||
| Youths (n = 1143) | |||
| High (half or more) | 51.4% | 42.0% | 27.5% |
| Low (less than half) | 48.6% | 58.0% | 72.5% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 1.25 (0.81 to 1.90) | 2.01 (1.20 to3.37) |
| Adults (n = 2026) | |||
| High (half or more) | 56.4% | 51.2% | 33.3% |
| Low (less than half) | 43.6% | 48.8% | 66.7% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 1.25 (0.85 to 1.84) | 1.96 (1.29 to 2.99) |
| Personal acceptability of smoking in restaurants and bars† | |||
| Opinion about smoking in restaurants in town† | |||
| Youths (n = 1145) | |||
| Personally acceptable | 47.4% | 42.0% | 39.5% |
| Personally unacceptable | 52.6% | 58.0% | 60.5% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 1.24 (0.84 to 1.85) | 1.36 (0.97 to 1.91) |
| Adults (n = 2100) | |||
| Personally acceptable | 57.3% | 51.1% | 37.5% |
| Personally unacceptable | 42.7% | 48.9% | 62.5% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 1.31 (1.00 to 1.70) | 2.26 (1.61 to 3.18) |
| Opinion about smoking in bars in town† | |||
| Adults (n = 2057) | |||
| Personally acceptable | 82.6% | 81.8% | 64.4% |
| Personally unacceptable | 17.4% | 18.2% | 35.6% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 1.06 (0.78 to 1.44) | 2.67 (2.07 to 3.44) |
| Perceived social acceptability of smoking in restaurants† | |||
| Perceived opinion of others (adults) in town about smoking in restaurants† | |||
| Youths (n = 1134) | |||
| Socially acceptable | 73.8% | 58.3% | 62.9% |
| Socially unacceptable | 26.2% | 41.7% | 37.1% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 2.18 (1.51 to 3.15) | 1.68 (1.17 to 2.43) |
| Adults (n = 2061) | |||
| Socially acceptable | 54.4% | 47.4% | 39.7% |
| Socially unacceptable | 45.6% | 52.6% | 60.3% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 1.32 (1.05 to 1.66) | 1.81 (1.39 to 2.37) |
| Perceived social acceptability of adult smoking‡ | |||
| Social acceptability of smoking by adults in town‡ | |||
| Youths (n = 1136) | |||
| Socially acceptable | 85.4% | 84.7% | 78.1% |
| Socially unacceptable | 14.6% | 15.3% | 21.9% |
| Odds ratio** (95% CI) | 1.00 | 1.07 (0.72 to 1.59) | 1.69 (1.10 to 2.58) |