European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Exposure to secondhand smoke has no safe limit. Secondhand smoking contributes to significant health problems in India. Apart from cancer, exposure to secondhand smoke has been reported to be associated with several respiratory diseases (including asthma, respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia, wheezing, coughing), ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome, and slow fetal growth and lung development. However, the overall rates for smoking, including consumption of different tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco, are still high. Smoking is a common practice among many adults in Indian people generally have very low concerns regarding the adverse health effects of secondhand smoking.  This study aimed to determine the factors associated with exposure to secondhand smoke among subjects in households of rural India. Materials and methods: We used two measures of SHS: exposure to SHS at home and exposure to SHS in the workplace. SHS exposure at home is estimated for non-smokers who reported anyone smoking inside his/her home. Exposure to SHS in the workplace is estimated for non-smokers who reported anyone smoking in the workplace in the past 30days before the survey. Statistical techniques such as χ2 test, logistic regression and discriminant function analysis were used. Result: The prevalence of SHS exposure at home was 55.8%, where 13.3% of children lived with one smoker, while 50% of children lived with ≥2 smokers. There was a significant difference in the mean score of the combined cognitive tests between SHS-exposed and non-exposed children after adjustment for sex, parental educational level, family income and academic performance [Pillai’s Trace=0.084, F statistic (df)=6.803 (4302), p<0.001]. Conclusion: Current smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke among internal migrants in India is high. Socio-demographic characteristics and migration status were strongly associated with current smoking and second-hand smoke exposure. We recommend specifically targeted tobacco control interventions to help to address these risk factors, such as focusing on divorced/widowed women.