Parental Ease in Asking Others Not to Smoke and Respiratory Symptoms and Illness among Children

Abstract

Objective: Childhood exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) increases a child’s burden of respiratory conditions, but parental smoking bans may reduce such morbidity. This study evaluated household smoking bans and their relationship to respiratory illness in an outpatient otolaryngology clinic. Methods: The study was performed at the Heim Pal National Children’s Hospital, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department (Budapest, Hungary) from July to November, 2010. A consecutive series of children’s caregivers were approached to participate in a survey measuring household smoking bans, upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms and illnesses, and socioeconomic factors. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Of the 215 caregivers recruited for the study, 208 agreed to participate (response rate of 96.7%). More than half of the children were male (54%), and 39% lived in a household with at least one member who smoked. Smoking was frequently banned inside the car (91.3%) and home (85.1%). Respondents felt it easiest to ask friends (97.1%) and family members not living in the household (98.1%) to refrain from smoking inside the home. Respondents also found it easier to ask a stranger (81.7%) or a family member (61.1%) not to smoke around the child. Logistic regression showed that respondents for children with a history of pneumonia found it less difficult to ask visitors in the home not to smoke compared to children without pneumonia (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.06–0.98). Conversely, respondents for children who had had adenoidectomy found it over three times more difficult to ask strangers not to smoke near the child compared to those of children without adenoidectomy (OR = 3.20, 95% CI = 1.43–6.38). Conclusions: In a population of children visiting an outpatient ENT clinic in Budapest, Hungary, we found a high degree of exposure to SHS. The ease with which caregivers felt towards asking others not to smoke predicted specific respiratory conditions. Since the ENT clinic offers a wonderful opportunity for clinicians to counsel parents on tobacco cessation, increased tobacco education of these providers is needed.

The association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and childhood respiratory disease: a review

“…Exposure to ETS was more common in children undergoing tonsillectomy for recurrent tonsillitis compared to a control group who underwent hernia repair surgery [33]. Children whose parents limited their exposure to ETS by enforcing smoke-free home environments experienced fewer URTIs and decreased health-care facility visits [34,35] (Table 2). …”

“…Children whose parents limited their exposure to ETS by enforcing smoke-free home environments experienced fewer URTIs and decreased health-care facility visits [34,35] (Table 2). …”

Speaking up about Lighting up in Public: Examining Psychosocial Correlates of Smoking and Vaping Assertive Communication Intentions among U.S. Adults

“…In both cases, the person communicating seeks to influence behavior through direct interpersonal verbal intervention (i.e., assertive communication). Past research has examined correlates of asking others not to smoke in a general context (e.g., Brownson, Davis, Wilkerson, & Jackson-Thompson, 1994;Elder et al, 1992), and also focused on more specific locations, such as workplaces (Sivri, Lazuras, Rodafinos, & Eiser, 2013), homes (Spangler, Csákányi, Rogers, & Katona, 2014) and colleges (Brann & Sutton, 2009;Choo & Kim, 2011). However, to our knowledge, no published studies examine psychosocial correlates of intentions to ask others not to smoke or vape in the kinds of public venues that are increasingly smoke-free (e.g., bars, restaurants, and parks), nor have any studies directly compared communication intentions surrounding vaping and smoking.…”

Secondhand smoke exposure (SHS) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Chinese never smokers in Hong Kong

“…It may be more difficult to ask friends not to smoke around in friends' homes than to ask them not to smoke in one's own home. 41 The 'unavoidable' SHS exposure in friends' home may immediately cause disturbance which was reflected by the lower scores on social functioning in our sample where participants with exposure were more likely to feel interfered with their social activities (like visiting friends). Nonetheless, lower scores on role physical and role emotional domains were found in participants exposed to SHS in their own homes which indicated their daily life was adversely affected by SHS exposure, even the effect was not reflected in the summary score (MCS12).…”

“…This might reflect the feeling of helplessness where people have less control over the external environment than their homes. It may be more difficult to ask friends not to smoke around in friends’ homes than to ask them not to smoke in one's own home 41. The ‘unavoidable’ SHS exposure in friends’ home may immediately cause disturbance which was reflected by the lower scores on social functioning in our sample where participants with exposure were more likely to feel interfered with their social activities (like visiting friends).…”