• Jean-François Etter, Catherine Ritter, Derek H Christie, Martina Kunz, Jean-Pierre Rieder, Jean-Paul Humair, Hans Wolff, Ariel Eytan, Corinne Wahl, and Bernice Elger.
• Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Jean-Francois.Etter@unige.ch
• Prev Med. 2012 Nov 1;55(5):475-81.

ObjectiveTo assess the acceptability and impact of anti-smoking policies in three prisons in Switzerland.MethodsA before-after intervention study in A) an open prison for sentenced prisoners, B) a closed prison for sentenced prisoners, and C) a prison for pretrial detainees. Prisoners and staff were surveyed before (2009, n=417) and after (2010-2011, n=228) the interventions. Medical staff were trained to address tobacco dependence systematically in prisoners. In prison A, a partial smoking ban was extended. No additional protection against second-hand smoke was feasible in prisons B and C.ResultsIn prison A, more prisoners reported receiving medical help to quit smoking in 2011 (20%) than in 2009 (4%, p=0.012). In prison A, prisoners and staff reported less exposure to second-hand smoke in 2011 than in 2009: 31% of prisoners were exposed to smoke at workplaces in 2009 vs 8% in 2011 (p=0.001); in common rooms: 43% vs 8%, (p<0.001). No changes were observed in prisons B and C.ConclusionsReinforcement of non-smoking rules was possible in only one of the three prisons but had an impact on exposure to tobacco smoke and medical help to quit. Implementing anti-smoking policies in prisons is difficult in the absence of appropriate legislation.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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