title: Parental receptivity to child biomarker testing for tobacco smoke exposure: A qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Widespread tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) of children suggests that parents may be unaware of their children's exposure. Biomarkers demonstrate exposure and may motivate behavior change, but their acceptability is not well understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-five in-depth interviews were conducted with parents of young children, in smoking families in central Israel. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consent to testing was associated with desire for information, for reassurance or to motivate change, and with concerns for long-term health, taking responsibility for one's child, and trust in research. Opposition to testing was associated with preference to avoid knowledge, reluctance to cause short-term discomfort, perceived powerlessness, and mistrust of research. Most parents expressed willingness to allow measurement by urine (83%), hair (88%), or saliva (93%), but not blood samples (43%); and believed that test results could motivate behavior change.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parents were receptive to non-invasive child biomarker testing. Biomarker information could help persuade parents who smoke that their children need protection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Biomarker testing of children in smoking families is an acceptable and promising tool for education, counseling, and motivation of parents to protect their children from TSE. Additionally, biomarker testing allows objective assessment of population-level child TSE.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: rosenl@post.tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Dept. of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Efrat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tillinger
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Communications, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guttman
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Dept. of Communications, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Shira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosenblat
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Statistics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Zucker
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stillman
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Vicki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Myers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012906:Smoke; D013997:Time Factors; D014026:Nicotiana
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012906:Smoke
keywords: Biomarker testing; Parental attitudes; Parental education and counseling; Qualitative methods; Secondhand smoke; Thematic analysis; Tobacco smoke exposure