Korean J Asthma Allergy Clin Immunol.  2005 Jun;25(2):137-142.

The Influence of Passive Smoking on Asthma and Allergic Disease in Preschool-Aged Children

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The contribution of cigarette smoke to indoor air pollution and the adverse health consequences of passive smoking have come to be recognized as major public health problems. Increased childhood respiratory symptoms and altered respiratory function are associated with parental smoking. However, the relationship between passive smoking and atopy and allergic diseases in childhood remains unclear. We evaluated whether the passive smoking in homes affects asthma and allergic diseases in preschool children in Korea. METHOD: The sample studied includes 1,423 preschool-aged (5~6 years old) children, 821 children are male and 602 children are female. Five hundred and sixty-six children live in Seoul, 453 children in urban area, 404 children in rural area. We investigated allergic disease (e.g., asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, food allergy) of children, history of parental or the other family member's smoking in homes, family data (e.g., family size, number of siblings), parental education status by questionnaire. The study was analyzed with information about these children to study the relationship between parental smoking and the prevalence of childhood asthma and atopic dermatitis, total IgE and the urinary cotinine/creatinine ratio (CCR) in the subjects. We used chi2 test for statistical analysis. RESULT: An odds ratio (OR) for asthma of 1.8 was shown by multivariate logistic regression among children. IgE level in passive smoking children is significantly higher than that in the non smoking children in allergic subjects (279.5+/-98.5 IU/mL and 185.5+/-56.4 IU/mL). The CCR in passive smoking children was significantly higher than that in non smoking children in allergic subjects (2.54+/-1.1 ng/mg and 0.2+/-0.4 ng/mg). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that passive smoking might be associated with higher rates of asthma prevalence. These findings have implications for renewed efforts to discourage smoking in families, especially during the first 5 years of allergic children's lives.

MeSH Terms

Air Pollution, Indoor
Asthma*
Child*
Child, Preschool
Dermatitis, Atopic
Education
Family Characteristics
Female
Humans
Immunoglobulin E
Korea
Logistic Models
Male
Odds Ratio
Parents
Prevalence
Public Health
Rhinitis
Seoul
Smoke
Smoking
Tobacco Products
Tobacco Smoke Pollution*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Immunoglobulin E
Smoke
Tobacco Smoke Pollution