Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Sep 25:13:74.
doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-13-74.

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and diabetes in adult never-smokers

Ikenna C Eze, Emmanuel Schaffner, Elisabeth Zemp, Arnold von Eckardstein, Alexander Turk, Robert Bettschart, Christian Schindler, Nicole Probst-Hensch  1
Affiliations

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and diabetes in adult never-smokers

Ikenna C Eze et al. Environ Health. .

Abstract

Background: Active smoking has been linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) but only few recent studies have shown environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) to be associated with DM in never-smokers. We assessed the association between long term ETS exposure and DM, and explored effect modifications of this association in our sample.

Methods: We analysed 6392 participants of the Swiss study on air pollution and lung and heart diseases in adults (SAPALDIA). We used mixed logistic regression models to assess the cross-sectional association between ETS and DM. Selected variables were tested for effect modification and several sensitivity analyses were performed, mostly treating participants' study area as a random effect.

Results: The prevalence of DM and ETS in the sample was 5.5% and 47% respectively. There were 2779 never-smokers with 4% diabetes prevalence. Exposure to ETS increased risk of DM in never-smokers by 50% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00, 2.26], and we observed a positive dose-response relationship between ETS exposure level and DM in never-smokers. Associations were strengthened (more than three-folds) by older age and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and were stronger in post-menopausal, obese, hypertriglyceridaemic and physically inactive participants. Estimates of association were robust across all sensitivity analyses (including inverse probability weighting for participation bias and fixed-effect analysis for study area). ETS had no substantial associations in current and ex-smokers in our study.

Conclusions: We found a positive association between ETS exposure and DM in never smokers. Additional longitudinal studies involving biomarkers are needed to further explore underlying mechanisms and susceptibilities.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . The Health Consequences of Smoking-50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014. - PubMed
    1. Willi C, Bodenmann P, Ghali WA, Faris PD, Cornuz J. Active smoking and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2007;298:2654–2664. doi: 10.1001/jama.298.22.2654. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Taylor AE, Johnson DC, Kazemi H. Environmental tobacco smoke and cardiovascular disease. A position paper from the Council on Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care, American Heart Association. Circulation. 1992;86:699–702. doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.86.2.699. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hauri DD, Lieb CM, Rajkumar S, Kooijman C, Sommer HL, Roosli M. Direct health costs of environmental tobacco smoke exposure and indirect health benefits due to smoking ban introduction. Eur J Public Health. 2011;21:316–322. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckq142. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Holay MP, Paunikar NP, Joshi PP, Sahasrabhojney VS, Tankhiwale SR. Effect of passive smoking on endothelial function in: healthy adults. J Assoc Physicians India. 2004;52:114–117. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances