HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) web only table Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hill, S C Articles by Liang, L Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hill, S C Articles by Liang, L

Smoking in the home and children’s health

Center for Financing, Cost and Access Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD, USA

Correspondence to:
Lan Liang, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Suite 5000, Rockville, MD 20850, USA; lliang{at}ahrq.gov

Objectives: We estimate for young children the annual excess health service use, healthcare expenditures, and disability bed days for respiratory conditions associated with exposure to smoking in the home in the United States.

Methods: Health service use, healthcare expenditures and disability bed days data come from the 1999 and 2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Reported smoking in the home comes from the linked National Health Interview Survey, from which the MEPS sample is drawn. Multivariate statistical analysis controls for potential confounding factors. The sample is 2759 children aged 0–4.

Results: Smoking in the home is associated with an increase in the probability of emergency department visits for respiratory conditions by five percentage points and the probability of inpatient use for these conditions by three percentage points. There is no relation between indoor smoking by adults and either ambulatory visits or prescription drug expenditures. Overall, indoor smoking is associated with $117 in additional healthcare expenditures for respiratory conditions for each exposed child aged 0–4. Indoor smoking is also associated with an eight percentage point increase in the probability of having a bed day because of respiratory illness for children aged 1–4.

Conclusions: Despite the significant progress made in tobacco control, many children are still exposed to secondhand smoke in their home. Reducing exposure to smoking in the home would probably reduce healthcare expenditures for respiratory conditions and improve children’s health.