Skip Navigation



Nicotine & Tobacco Research Advance Access published online on April 3, 2009
Nicotine & Tobacco Research, doi:10.1093/ntr/ntp024
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Article Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
11/6/606    most recent
ntp024v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Edwards, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Edwards, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Spousal smoking as an indicator of total secondhand smoke exposure

Richard Edwards

Richard Edwards, M.D., M.P.H., Department of Public Health, Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand

Corresponding Author: Dr. Richard Edwards, Associate Professor in Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Health Promotion and Policy Research Group, PO Box 7343, Wellington, New Zealand. Telephone: +64 4 385 5999. Fax: +64 4 389 5319. Email: richard.edwards{at}otago.ac.nz


  Abstract

Introduction: This study assessed the utility of spousal smoking as a measure of secondhand smoke exposure.

Methods: The investigation involved secondary analysis of data from 526 female participants of a lung cancer case–control study from northeastern England. Secondhand smoke exposure was measured in the home (spousal and nonspousal), workplace, and social/other settings over the whole life course.

Results: Almost all women (99.1%) had at least 10 years of secondhand smoke exposure from at least one source, most commonly from parental smoking in childhood, and spousal smoking, the workplace, and social settings during adulthood. Spousal smoking was strongly correlated with overall secondhand smoke exposure in the home over the life course but was weakly correlated (Kendall's {tau} = –.04 to .12) with secondhand smoke exposure from other domestic sources and with secondhand smoke exposure in the workplace or social/other settings. Most women who gave no history of spousal secondhand smoke exposure recalled at least 10 years of secondhand smoke exposure in other settings: in the home through other sources (83.2% ≥ 10 "smoker-years"), through workplaces (63.4% ≥10 "exposure-years"), or in social settings (82.0% ≥10 exposure-years). Almost all (96.9%) reported at least 10 years of exposure from at least one of these nonspousal sources.

Discussion: Using spousal smoking as a proxy of total secondhand smoke exposure would have meant that these subjects would have been misclassified as not exposed to secondhand smoke. This misclassification may bias estimates of association with health outcomes toward the null. Studies of the effects of secondhand smoke exposure on health outcomes should evaluate all potential sources of secondhand smoke exposure.

Received: February 14, 2008; Accepted: October 19, 2008
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.