PubMed ID: 23758015
Author(s): Wichmann MA, Cruickshanks KJ, Nondahl DM, Chappell R, Klein BE, Klein R, Fischer ME. Changes in environmental tobacco smoke exposure: the Beaver Dam experience. WMJ. 2013 Apr;112(2):53-7. PMID 23758015
Journal: Wmj : Official Publication Of The State Medical Society Of Wisconsin, Volume 112, Issue 2, Apr 2013
OBJECTIVES Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure has been associated with adverse health outcomes. Our goal was to determine if ETS exposure changed between 1998-2000 and 2003-2005 among participants in the population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study.
METHODS ETS exposure was ascertained using a cotinine-validated questionnaire at the 5-year (1998-2000) and 10-year follow-up examinations (2003-2005). Non-smoking participants with data from both visits were included (n=1898; ages 53-96 years at 5-yr follow-up). McNemar’s test was used to test differences in ETS exposure overall and in 3 settings: home, work, and social settings. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used for multivariate logistic regression models of exposure.
RESULTS The proportion of nonsmokers with no or little ETS exposure increased from 80% to 88% (P< 0.0001). The percent living in a home with no indoor smokers increased from 94% to 97% (P<0.0001). The percent reporting no exposure at work increased from 91% to 95% (P<0.0001). The percent reporting the lowest frequency of social exposure increased from 65% to 77% (P<0.0001). In the GEE model, age was inversely associated with overall ETS exposure (Odds Ratio [OR] per 5 yr= 0.87, 95% CI= 0.81, 0.94), as was education (OR for college vs < high school=0.25, 95% CI=0.16, 0.37), female gender (ORI= 0.41, 95% CI= 0.33, 0.51), and later examination period (OR =0.62, 95% CI= 0.53, 0.73); current employment was positively associated with exposure (OR=1.44, 95% CI=1.14, 1.83).
CONCLUSIONS Between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s, ETS exposure in older adults decreased. Decreasing exposures suggest there may be future declines in ETS-related adverse health outcomes.