| Title | The effect of workplace smoking bans on heart rate variability and pulse wave velocity of non-smoking hospitality workers. | ||
| Author | Rajkumar, Sarah; Schmidt-Trucksass, Arno; Wellenius, Gregory A; Bauer, Georg F; Huynh, Cong Khanh; Moeller, Alexander; Roosli, Martin | ||
| Journal | Int J Public Health | Publication Year/Month | 2014-Aug |
| PMID | 24504155 | PMCID | PMC4179883 |
| Affiliation | 1.Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4051, Basel, Switzerland. | ||
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of a change in second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure on heart rate variability (HRV) and pulse wave velocity (PWV), this study utilized a quasi-experimental setting when a smoking ban was introduced. METHODS: HRV, a quantitative marker of autonomic activity of the nervous system, and PWV, a marker of arterial stiffness, were measured in 55 non-smoking hospitality workers before and 3-12 months after a smoking ban and compared to a control group that did not experience an exposure change. SHS exposure was determined with a nicotine-specific badge and expressed as inhaled cigarette equivalents per day (CE/d). RESULTS: PWV and HRV parameters significantly changed in a dose-dependent manner in the intervention group as compared to the control group. A one CE/d decrease was associated with a 2.3% (95% CI 0.2-4.4; p = 0.031) higher root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), a 5.7% (95% CI 0.9-10.2; p = 0.02) higher high-frequency component and a 0.72% (95% CI 0.40-1.05; p < 0.001) lower PWV. CONCLUSIONS: PWV and HRV significantly improved after introducing smoke-free workplaces indicating a decreased cardiovascular risk.