The smoking ban in public places is related to the decrease in child asthma admissions

This paper is the critical appraisal of a cohort study.

Conclusions of the study: the implementation of the smoking ban appears to be associated with a decrease in the rate of hospital admissions for childhood asthma.

Reviewers’ commentary: this study supports the association between the decrease in asthma admissions and reduced exposure to passive smoking. Although the effect size was small and the participation of other factors involved, as better asthma control or other environmental pollutants cannot be excluded, the clinical impact is relevant due to the high prevalence of asthma. It would be appropriate, both the dissemination of these effects to encourage avoidance of passive smoking in children and adolescents, and the development of prospective studies to rate the impact of these legislative measures.