Comprehensive smoke-free legislation and displacement of smoking into the homes of young children in Hong Kong

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of comprehensive smoke-free legislation in 2007 on the exposure of children to secondhand smoke (SHS) in Hong Kong.

Methods: Two cross-sectional questionnaire surveys were conducted, before (2006) and after (2008) the implementation of smoke-free legislation, among primary 2-4 students (equivalent to US grades 2-4) from 19 and 24 randomly selected schools, respectively. Adjusted ORs for SHS exposure at home and outside home post-legislation compared with pre-legislation were calculated. The strength of the association between SHS exposure and respiratory symptoms in each survey was used as an indirect indicator of the intensity of exposure.

Results: Among 3243 and 4965 never smoking students in the 2006 and 2008 surveys, the prevalence of SHS exposure in the past 7 days increased both at home (from 10.2% to 14.1%) and outside home (from 19.8% to 27.2%). Post-legislation, students were 56% more likely (p<0.01) to report SHS exposure at home coupled with an insignificantly stronger association between SHS exposure and respiratory symptoms. Similarly, students were 60% more likely (p<0.001) to report SHS exposure outside home in 2008, but the association between SHS exposure and respiratory symptoms became insignificantly weaker. Parental smoking rates were similar before and after legislation.

Conclusions: The prevalence of exposure to SHS at home and outside home have both increased among primary school students in Hong Kong post-legislation. Comprehensive smoke-free legislation without strong support for smoking cessation might have displaced smoking into the homes of young children.