Factors Associated with Exposure to Passive Smoking among 12-18 year-old Students in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract

IntroductIon Passive-smoking is a major, preventable cause of disease, disability and death. It is estimated that the majority of the world's population is still living in countries not fully covered by smoke-free public health regulations and Greece is unfortunately one of them. The aim of our study, conducted in October 2014, was to provide up to date information regarding determinants of exposure to passive smoking among the student population of the two biggest Greek cities.Methods Our survey was conducted on a representative sample of middle and high school students (1803 in total, 810 boys and 992 girls), living in the two biggest cities of Greece. A questionnaire was developed to estimate the exposure of students to passive-smoking. Relative frequencies were calculated for all the questions and a Pearson χ2-test was used to evaluate the potential association of several variables with gender, age and smoking status. Logistic regression analysis were also applied to evaluate the association between social influences and the likelihood of being exposed to passive smoking.results A total of 86.7% of youth were exposed to passive-smoking during the 30 days preceding the survey. Daily exposure during the past 7 days was reported by 20.2% of the students. The highest rates of exposure were reported in cafes (61.2%), home (43.7%) and school (37.2%). Gender, age, smoking status, and the smoking habits of parents, siblings and friends, but also the sight of peers and teachers smoking inside the school campus, were significant determinants of students' exposure to passive smoking.conclusIons Passive-smoking exposure is prevalent among the student population in Greece, despite the New Anti-Smoking Legislation that came into effect in July 2009. Our findings indicate that enforcement of the law and additional public health initiatives must be implemented.

Exposure to second-hand smoke among secondary school-going adolescents: Findings from the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyAHRB) study

“…26 In contrast, it was relatively lower compared with Cambodian (67.1% (95% CI: 64.0–70.0) in males and 67.4% (95% CI: 64.2–70.5) in females) 38 and Mongolian adolescents (73.9% (95% CI: 71.6–76.1) in males and 71.7% (95% CI: 69.7–73.7) in females). 39 Nonetheless, the present finding was comparable to those reported by Abidin et al 17 and Lappos et al, 40 who reported SHS exposure among 52.9% of Malaysian school children and 59.1% of adolescents aged 12–18 years in Greece, respectively. The varied proportions of SHS exposure among adolescents could be attributable to the known variation of sociodemographics, prevalence of smoking among adults and adolescents, community norm towards tobacco use and governmental legislation on smoking between different countries.…”

Prevalence and correlates of exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) among 14 to 15 year old schoolchildren in a medical officer of health area in Sri Lanka

“…It is evident that exposure to SHS at home and in public places in Sri Lanka remains high, despite continuous community and school based anti-smoking programmes. Similar to previous studies [ 9 – 12 ], the present study also reported that the presence of smokers at home was the strongest predictor of exposure to SHS both in the household and in public places. Results from this study highlight an urgent need for intervention to protect children from SHS at home.…”

“…Smoking by household members has been identified as the main predictor for SHS among children [ 9 – 14 ], with family groups and home environments particularly important. Allowing someone to smoke around you [ 10 ] is associated with SHS at home, with maternal smoking a stronger predictor than paternal smoking [ 11 , 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Low parental education [ 11 , 16 ] along with the number of cigarettes smoked in the household [ 11 ] have also been found to be determining factors. Girls have been found to be at a greater risk of SHS exposure [ 9 , 12 ], with this more common at older ages [ 9 ] and amongst those in lower socioeconomic status [ 12 ], for both sexes. Time in the week and year has also been found to make a difference, with a higher prevalence in SHS exposure found on Mondays [ 11 , 12 ] and during the winter months [ 11 , 12 ], than at other times.…”

Prevalence and factors associated with secondhand smoke exposure among Malaysian adolescents

“…Another Malaysian study reported a higher prevalence of 52.9% SHS exposure at home based on salivary cotinine measurement 16 . A study among Greek adolescents aged 12–18 years 22 reported 59.1% prevalence. In addition, the prevalence in this study is 15% lower than that reported in 68 low- and middle-income countries (55.9%) 23 , Cambodia (67.1%) 24 and Mongolia (73.9%, 71.6–76.1%, males; and 71.7%, 69.7–73.7% females) 25 .…”