Cancer Weekly

New smoking data have been reported by scientists at University of Otago

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"Secondhand smoke exposure was measured in the home (spousal and nonspousal), workplace, and social/other settings over the whole life course. 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. 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," wrote R. Edwards and colleagues, University of Otago.

The researchers concluded: "Studies of the effects of secondhand smoke exposure on health outcomes should evaluate all potential sources of secondhand smoke exposure."

Edwards and colleagues published their study in Nicotine & Tobacco Research (Spousal smoking as an indicator of total secondhand smoke exposure. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2009;11(6):606-613).

For additional information, contact R. Edwards, University of Otago, Dept. of Public Health, Health Promotion & Policy Research Group, Health Promotion & Policy Research Unit, POB 7343, Wellington, New Zealand.

The publisher's contact information for the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research is: Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon St., Oxford OX2 6DP, England.

Keywords: New Zealand, Wellington, Clinical Trial Research, Drugs, Lung Cancer, Lung Neoplasms, Nicotine, Oncology, Pharmaceuticals, Smoking, Therapy, Treatment, University of Otago.

This article was prepared by Cancer Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Cancer Weekly via NewsRx.com.