Asthma and the new smoke-free law. What has changed?

In January of 2008, Portugal implanted new legislation that restricts indoor smoking in collective places. As second-hand smoke results in exacerbation of Asthma's symptoms, it became pertinent to know the perception of asthmatic patients about the repercussions of this new law in their well-being. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, in a convenience sample, formed by 96 asthmatic patients of the Pulido Valente's Hospital and Santa Marta's Hospital Pulmonology appointments. All data was collected from a standardised questionnaire with volunteer, anonymous and confidential answers. Epi InfoTM software was used for statistical processing purposes, and the results analysed by Qui-square test (α=5%). From the patients polled, the percentage of those exposed to second-hand smoke until December 2007 was 67.7%, with higher prevalence in the actively working individuals subgroup. A considerable percentage (39.6%) stated positive changes (measured by improvement of the performance in daily life activities, decrease in symptoms and lesser usage of SOS medication), even though the majority did not recognize any improvement. From those who marked positive changes, 81.6% said they were no longer exposed to second-hand smoke after the new law, and 65.8% referred the smoking ban as the responsible factor for those changes. These results, only two months after the law's implementation, strengthen the importance of approving effective measures to create and enforce smoke-free environments, therefore reducing the exacerbation of symptoms and improving the asthmatic patients' well-being.