A questionnaire for assessing environmental tobacco smoke exposure.
Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been associated with adverse health consequences. In this study, the association between self-reported ETS exposure and serum cotinine levels was examined. As part of the population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study in Beaver Dam, WI, self-reported data on ETS were obtained at the 5-year follow-up examination (1998-2000; n = 2800). Serum cotinine levels were obtained on 643 of these participants (53-75 years old). Serum cotinine levels increased with reported number of hours of recent ETS exposure. Most (95.3%) participants who reported being smokers had serum cotinine levels >15 ng/mL, compared with only 2.7% of nonsmokers. Usual ETS exposure among nonsmokers was assessed with a brief questionnaire quantifying exposure at work, at home, and in social settings, and then classified into three levels of exposure. Those reporting little or no exposure had a geometric mean cotinine level of 0.06 ng/mL (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.05, 0.07), compared with 0.14 (95% CI: 0.09, 0.22) and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.36, 1.10) for those reporting moderate and high ETS exposure, respectively (F-test for trend: P < 0.001). These results suggest that the questionnaire can be used to distinguish relative levels of exposure to ETS.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, #1040, Madison, WI 53726, USA. nondahl@epi.ophth.wisc.edu
David M
DM
Nondahl
Karen J
KJ
Cruickshanks
Carla R
CR
Schubert
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003367:Cotinine / Q000097:blood; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D014922:Wisconsin
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D003367:Cotinine