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Secondhand smoke exposure at home in rural China

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Abstract

Purpose

This study estimated secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home among nonsmoking children (age 0–18) and adults (age ≥ 19) in rural China, and examined associated socio-demographic factors.

Methods

A total of 5,442 nonsmokers (including 1,456 children and 3,986 adults) living in six rural areas in China were interviewed in person. The standardized questionnaire obtained information on their demographic characteristics and SHS exposure at home. Differences in SHS exposure were assessed by use of the chi-squared test. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associated factors.

Results

Occurrence of SHS exposure at home among nonsmoking children and adults was 68.0 and 59.3%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis found that children living in households with married, low-education, and low-income heads of household, and those who resided in the Qinghai province of China were more likely to be exposed to SHS. Among adults, those who were female, aged 19–34, single, low-education, and low-income, and those who lived in Qinghai province were more likely to be exposed to SHS at home.

Conclusions

Our findings of substantial SHS exposure at home in rural China emphasize the importance of implementing interventions to reduce SHS exposure among this population.

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Acknowledgments

This study was conducted with support from the US National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center (grant R01 TW05938), the US National Cancer Institute (grant CA-113710), the Australia Government’s Overseas Aid Program (HSS080020), the China-Australia Health and HIV/AIDS Facility, the Operational Research on Integration of NCMS and MA Rural Health Financing Schemes, the Sichuan University Scientific Research Foundation for Young Teachers, and the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute (FAMRI). The authors would like to thank the China National Health Development Research Center for collection of the data, and members of the UCSF Writer’s Task Force for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Wendy Max.

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Yao, T., Sung, HY., Mao, Z. et al. Secondhand smoke exposure at home in rural China. Cancer Causes Control 23 (Suppl 1), 109–115 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-9900-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-9900-6

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