Do household tobacco smoking habits influence asthma, rhinitis and eczema among 13-14 year-old adolescents?
BACKGROUND
Although the harmful impact of environmental tobacco smoke on respiratory health in early childhood is well known, its effect in adolescence is still ambiguous. This study aims to examine if parents' and household tobacco smoking habits influence asthma, rhinitis and eczema in early adolescence in The Republic of Macedonia, as a country with a very high rate of household tobacco smoke exposure despite the smoking cessation campaign, and low prevalence rates of asthma, rhinitis and eczema.


METHODS
Children aged 13-14 years (n=3026) from randomly selected schools in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, completed by themselves the standardised International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Three written questionnaires on asthma, rhinitis, eczema and potential environmental risk factors. Maternal and paternal tobacco smoking habits and the number of smokers in households were separately correlated to current and ever-diagnosed asthma, rhinitis and eczema by odds ratios (OR, 95% CI) with and without adjustments for potential confounders using binary logistic regression.


RESULTS
The maternal smoking habit was significantly positively associated only with current night dry cough apart from chest infection (aOR: 1.26; 1.03-1.54; p=0.026). No significant association was observed in relation to the other studied variables with either parental smoking habits or the number of smokers in the household.


CONCLUSIONS
Household tobacco smoking habits were not found to have a significant influence on asthma, rhinitis and eczema in young adolescents. The established results point out the dominant influence of maternal smoking on cough as an unspecific asthma symptom.
Vlaski
Emilija
E
Department of Pulmonology and Allergology, University Children's Hospital, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. vlaskie@sonet.com.mk
Stavric
Katerina
K
Seckova
Lidija
L
Kimovska
Milica
M
Isjanovska
Rozalinda
R
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004485:Eczema / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D015995:Prevalence; D018843:Republic of North Macedonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D057566:Self Report; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution