Gac Sanit. 2015 Mar-Apr;29(2):131-4. doi: 10.1016/j.gaceta.2014.10.011. Epub 2014 Dec 6.

Portuguese children's exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in the family car.

Vitória PD¹, Machado JC², Ravara SB³, Araújo AC⁴, Samorinha C⁵, Antunes H⁶, Rosas M⁷, Becoña E⁸, Precioso J⁴.

Author information

1: Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal; CIS-IUL, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Av. Das Forças Armadas, Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: pvitoria@fcsaude.ubi.pt.
2: Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
3: Centro de Investigação de Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal; Centro Hospitalar da Cova da Beira, Unidade de Medicina Preventiva, Covilhã, Portugal.
4: Instituto de Educação, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
5: Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, R. Das Taipas, 135, Porto, Portugal.
6: Serviço de Pediatria, Hospital de Braga, Instituto de Investigação em Ciências da Vida e da Saúde (ICVS), Escola de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Minho e ICVS/3B's-Laboratório Associado, Braga/Guimarães, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
7: Divisão da Promoção da Saúde, Câmara Municipal de Viana do Castelo, Passeio das Mordomas da Romaria, Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
8: Unidade de Tabaquismo, Faculdade de Psicoloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To assess the prevalence of children's exposure to second-hand smoke in the family car; to compare exposure among children with smoking and non-smoking parents.

METHODS:

In 2011, a self-administered questionnaire was applied to a 4th grade Portuguese children national sample (N=3187, mean age 9.5 ± 0.7, 51.1% boys). Prevalence rates and chi-square tests were computed.

RESULTS:

Of the participants, 52.0% reported having, at least, one smoking parent. Overall exposure in the car was 28.9% (95% CI 27.3-30.5). Children's exposure among those reporting smoking parents was 46.9% (95% CI 44.4-49.4); and 8.6% (95% CI 7.1-10.1) among those reporting non-smoking parents (p<.001). Therefore, children with smoking parents were 5.44 times more likely to be exposed.

CONCLUSIONS:

Children's exposure to second-hand smoke in the family car is frequent, especially if one or both parents smoke. This highlights the need for effective tobacco control measures to prevent this severe health hazard.

KEYWORDS:

Child health; Contaminación por humo de tabaco; Environmental health; Epidemiology; Epidemiología; Health policy; Health promotion; Humo Ambiental del Tabaco; Política de Salud; Promoción de la Salud; Salud ambiental; Salud del niño; Second hand smoke; Tobacco smoke pollution