Smoke-Free Universities Help Students Avoid Establishing Smoking by Means of Facilitating Quitting.

Background: This study aimed to clarify whether smoke-free policies affect the initiation or the quitting of smoking among young adults.

Methods: In this natural quasi-experiment study, three universities with different enforcement of smoke-free policies were considered in Kazan City, Russian Federation. Exposure data were collected in 2008-2009 through measurement of particulate matter concentrations in typical sets of premises in each university to distinguish smoke-free universities (SFU) and those not smoke-free (NSFU).