Objective: To examine exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) at home, in workplace, and in various public places in Bangladesh.
Materials and methods: Data from 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted in Bangladesh was analyzed. The data consists of 9,629 respondents from a nationally representative multi-stage probability sample of adults aged 15 years and above. Exposure to second-hand smoke was defined as respondents who reported being exposed to tobacco smoke in the following locations: Indoor workplaces, homes, government building or office, health care facilities, public transportation, schools, universities, restaurants, and cafes, coffee shops or tea houses. Exposure to tobacco smoke in these places was examined by gender across various socioeconomic and demographic sub-groups that include age, residence, education and wealth index using SPSS 17.0 for complex samples.
Results: The study shows high prevalence of SHS exposure at home and in workplace and in public places. Exposure to SHS among adults was reported high at home (54.9%) (male-58.2% and female-51.7%), in workplace (63%) (male-67.8% and female-30.4%), and in any public place (57.8%) (male-90.4% and female-25.1%) 30 days preceding the survey. Among the public places examined exposure was low in the educational institutions (schools-4.3%) and health care facilities (5.8%); however, exposure was high in public transportation (26.3%), and restaurants (27.6%). SHS exposure levels at home, in workplace and public places were varied widely across various socioeconomic and demographic sub-groups.
Conclusions: Exposure was reported high in settings having partial ban as compared to settings having a complete ban. Following the WHO FCTC and MPOWER measures, strengthening smoke-free legislation may further the efforts in Bangladesh towards creating and enforcing 100% smoke-free areas and educating the public about the dangers of SHS. Combining these efforts can have a complementary effect on protecting the people from hazardous effect of SHS as well as reducing the social acceptance of smoking both at home and in public and workplaces. Ongoing surveillance in Bangladesh is necessary to measure progress towards monitoring SHS exposure.