[Questionnaire polls on health awareness of second-hand smoking exposure among non- and ex-smoker school teachers].

An accurate education of the harmful health effects of second-hand smoke on young people is important, and school teachers play a critical role. We polled school teachers about health awareness of second-hand smoking and the effectiveness of 4 methods of protecting against second-hand smoke. Self-reporting questionnaires were given to 452 non-smoker and ex-smoker subjects. To evaluate social nicotine dependence, we used the Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND) questionnaire. Of 364 teachers (80.5%) who answered and were at risk of second-hand smoke exposure, 39.6% had respiratory symptoms, and 34.9% answered "ignore" or "slightly anxious" about second-hand smoking. The mean KTSND scores of those who answered "extremely anxious", "moderately anxious", "slightly anxious", and "ignore second-hand smoking" were 10.5 +/- 5.7, 12.3 +/- 6.0, 14.7 +/- 5.8, and 18.4 +/- 4.9, respectively. The KTSND scores of teachers who answered "ignore second-hand smoke" were higher than those of teachers who answered "anxious". The scores were also higher in subjects who believe second-hand smoke can be avoided by the recommended protective measures, than in subjects who know that avoidance is impossible, indicating that these teachers accepted smoking behavior. These results suggest that non-smoking and ex-smoking teachers with high KTSND scores might underestimate the health hazards of second-hand smoke, and overestimate the recommended protective measures. Therefore, re-education about awareness of the harmful effects of second-hand smoke should be given to them.