Attitudes towards the extension of smoking restrictions to selected outdoor areas in Italy.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the attitudes of Italians on the extension of the smoking ban to selected public outdoor areas.

METHODS

The authors considered data from two Italian surveys on smoking conducted in 2009 and 2010 on a total sample of 6233 individuals, representative of the Italian population aged 15 years or over.

RESULTS

64.6% of Italians supported smoke-free policies in public parks, 68.5% in sports stadiums, 62.1% in beaches, 85.9% in school courtyards and 79.9% in outdoor areas surrounding hospitals. Among current smokers, the corresponding estimates were 32.9% for parks, 38.2% for stadiums, 31.2% for beaches, 67.6% for schools and 55.3% for hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

Extension of the smoking ban to selected outdoor areas is supported by the large majority of the Italian population. The overwhelming majority of support for smoke-free school grounds and outdoor areas surrounding hospitals indicates that legislative action is required.