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.
Nondahl
David M
DM
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, #1040, Madison, WI 53726, USA. nondahl@epi.ophth.wisc.edu
Cruickshanks
Karen J
KJ
Schubert
Carla R
CR
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