Did the English smoking ban stop 90,000 children getting ill?

Conclusion This observational study found an association between the introduction of the 2007 smoking ban in public places in England and Wales, and a reduction in children's hospital admissions for respiratory tract infections. The study included data on a large number of admissions for respiratory tract infections in children, using nationwide official hospital statistics to gather this information. This gives us confidence in how well these findings may be generalisable because it limits selection bias. The researchers took several potential confounding factors into account when analysing their results, including: the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine for children in 2006 seasonal variations temperature  levels of air pollution They only included children up to the age of 14 in an attempt to limit the effect of adolescent first-hand smoking. A cut-off point had to be used, though recognising there will be children under the age of 14 who smoke. However, this study has limitations because of its design. As it is a "before and after" type of study, there may have been other factors that changed that may have influenced the results. Hospital admissions may have reduced over time as a result of improvements in the treatments available for respiratory tract infections in children – for example, at home, through a pharmacist, GP or A&E services, or because of preventative measures. Private hospital admissions were not inc...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Pregnancy/child Source Type: news