Cigarette smoke-free home adoption attempts among formerly homeless adults living in permanent supportive housing

Introduction

Globally, tobacco use causes 8.7 million deaths annually. Approximately 50 % of formerly homeless adults in permanent supportive housing (PSH) in the United States smoke cigarettes. Secondhand smoke exposure is high in the absence of smoke-free policies. There is a need to understand attitudes toward smoke-free policies and factors associated with smoke-free home adoption attempts among PSH residents.

Methods

Between 2022 and 2024, we recruited 400 PSH residents who smoked into a smoke-free home intervention trial in 40 multi-unit PSH sites. Using baseline data, we applied generalized linear mixed models to examine factors associated with past 3-month smoke-free home adoption attempts, adjusting for age, gender, and race-ethnicity.

Results

Median age was 56 years (IQR 46, 62), and 41.8 % were Black/African American. Of the sample, 34.8 % previously attempted to adopt a smoke-free home, daily cigarette consumption averaged 11.1 (SD 7.5), and 19.3 % used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. E-cigarette use (AOR 2.92, 95 % CI 1.48, 5.77) and positive attitudes toward smoke-free policies (AOR 2.13, 95 % CI 1.43, 3.18) were associated with increased odds of smoke-free home adoption attempts. Longer tenure at current residence (AOR 0.94, 95 % CI 0.89, 0.99), smoking within 5 min of waking (AOR 0.55, 95 % CI 0.31, 0.97), and having a serious mental illness (AOR 0.51, 95 % CI 0.30, 0.88) were associated with lower odds.

Conclusions

Support for smoke-free policies among PSH residents can be strengthened by promoting access to tobacco treatment, addressing the role of e-cigarette use, and providing tailored support for residents with serious mental illness.