ROME, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Smoking bans in all public areas and workplaces in Italy have resulted in an important reduction of acute coronary events, a researcher said.

Study do-author Dr. Francesco Forastiere of the Rome E. Health Authority compared acute coronary events in Rome five years preceding a public smoking ban with those occurring one year after the ban.

Forastiere said the study was the first to consider in detail other factors such as temperature, air pollution, flu epidemics and time trends that affect acute coronary events such as heart attack.

The study, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, found an 11.2 percent reduction of acute coronary events in people ages 35 to 64 and a 7.9 percent reduction in those age 65 to 74.

"The smoking ban in Italy is working and having a real protective effect on population health," Forastiere said in a statement.