OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk of parental smoking to the respiratory health of their children data of a cross sectional study on fourth-grade schoolchildren in Munich and Southern Bavaria were analysed. METHODS: Allergic and asthmatic diseases and symptoms, risk factors like family history, indoor pollution and parental smoking were evaluated by a questionnaire. Pulmonary function tests were performed in 7284 school children aged (9-11 years). Lung function values were adjusted for height, weight, sex and other confounders. RESULTS: The children, whose parents smoke at home, had significantly lower levels of peak flow, MEF75, MEF50 and MEF25 compared to children from non-smoking families, with a dose-response relationship. Smoking of more than 20 cigarettes at home is associated with a mean decrease in MEF75 of 5.7%, in MEF50 of 4.9% and in Peak Flow of 4.9% (p < 0.001). The prevalence of cough and wheezing increased with increasing smoking rates of the parents. CONCLUSIONS: Passive exposure to smoke has direct measurable dose-dependent effects on the respiratory system of children.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk of parental smoking to the respiratory health of their children data of a cross sectional study on fourth-grade schoolchildren in Munich and Southern Bavaria were analysed. METHODS: Allergic and asthmatic diseases and symptoms, risk factors like family history, indoor pollution and parental smoking were evaluated by a questionnaire. Pulmonary function tests were performed in 7284 school children aged (9-11 years). Lung function values were adjusted for height, weight, sex and other confounders. RESULTS: The children, whose parents smoke at home, had significantly lower levels of peak flow, MEF75, MEF50 and MEF25 compared to children from non-smoking families, with a dose-response relationship. Smoking of more than 20 cigarettes at home is associated with a mean decrease in MEF75 of 5.7%, in MEF50 of 4.9% and in Peak Flow of 4.9% (p < 0.001). The prevalence of cough and wheezing increased with increasing smoking rates of the parents. CONCLUSIONS: Passive exposure to smoke has direct measurable dose-dependent effects on the respiratory system of children.
Authors: Ariane Batscheider; Sylwia Zakrzewska; Joachim Heinrich; Christina M Teuner; Petra Menn; Carl Peter Bauer; Ute Hoffmann; Sibylle Koletzko; Irina Lehmann; Olf Herbarth; Andrea von Berg; Dietrich Berdel; Ursula Krämer; Beate Schaaf; H-Erich Wichmann; Reiner Leidl Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2012-10-02 Impact factor: 2.655