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. 2019 Oct 23;16(21):4062.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16214062.

Further Insights on Predictors of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure during the Pediatric Age

Carmela Protano  1 , Vittoria Cammalleri  2 , Arianna Antonucci  3 , Alexandra Sabina Ungureanu  4 , Francesa Santilli  5   6 , Stefano Martellucci  7   8 , Vincenzo Mattei  9   10 , Matteo Vitali  11
Affiliations

Further Insights on Predictors of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure during the Pediatric Age

Carmela Protano et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The smoking ban in public places has reduced Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) exposure for non-smokers, but despite this, domestic environments still remain places at high risk of exposure, and, today, about 40% of children worldwide are exposed to ETS at home. The aims of the study are to investigate the contribution of several factors on ETS exposure among a group of Italian children and to evaluate the changes in smoking precautions adopted at home when the smoker is the mother, the father, or both parents, respectively. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 519 Italian schoolchildren. Information was collected via a questionnaire. Results: 41.4% of the participants lived with at least one smoker. Almost half of the children exposed to ETS lived with one or more smokers who do not observe any home smoking ban. Lower maternal or paternal educational levels significantly increase the risk of ETS exposure at home and the "worst case" is represented by both parents who smoke. Conclusions: More effective preventive interventions are needed to protect children from ETS exposure. Some interventions should be specifically dedicated to smokers with a low educational level and to mothers that smoke.

Keywords: Environmental Tobacco Smoke; children; educational level; ethnicity; home smoking policies; smoking ban.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association between paternal nationality and educational level and the prevalence of smoking habits. Statistically significant differences in the prevalence of smoking habits have been recovered both for different educational levels of mother or father (p = 0.022 and p < 0.001, respectively).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Association between maternal and paternal nationality or educational level and home smoking policies in children exposed to ETS.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ETS exposure profile when the cohabitant smoker was only the mother (case 1), when the cohabitant smoker was only the father (case 2), and when mother and father were both smokers (case 3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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