Perceptions about the Health Effects of Passive Smoking among Bangladeshi Young Adults

Authors

  • Rabeya Sultana Department of Reproductive and Child Health, Faculty of Public Health, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, 125/1, Darus Salam, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
  • Jesmin Akter Department of Reproductive and Child Health, Faculty of Public Health, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, 125/1, Darus Salam, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
  • Nasreen Nahar Department of Reproductive and Child Health, Faculty of Public Health, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, 125/1, Darus Salam, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
  • Mithila Faruque Department of Reproductive and Child Health, Faculty of Public Health, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, 125/1, Darus Salam, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
  • Begum Rowshan Ara Department of Reproductive and Child Health, Faculty of Public Health, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, 125/1, Darus Salam, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
  • Md. Kapil Ahmed Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs, Plot 8, Road 3, Block A, Section 11, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-6029.2016.05.04.3

Keywords:

Second hand smoke, Knowledge, Health effects, Young adults.

Abstract

Passive smoking is now firmly established as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Assessment of young adults’ perceptions, understanding and knowledge of the health effects of passive smoking may promote educational endeavours to increase awareness of the passive smoking-linked health effects and to facilitate interventions. The study, therefore, assessed the perceptions of young adults in Bangladesh about the health effects of passive smoking. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 656 young adults in two districts under Dhaka division of Bangladesh. The study used a multistage cluster random sampling approach. Binary logistic regression was used for identifying the predictors of perceptions that passive smoking is harmful. The vast majority of the respondents believed that passive smoking causes illnesses but the knowledge of specific health effects was limited. Most (87.2%) respondents perceived that passive smoking causes ‘some’ or ‘a lot’ of harm to health of both adults and children. However, disparities in perceptions were prevalent across their educational levels. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that, after adjusting other factors, respondents who had nine or more years of education were 6.7 times likelihood of perceiving that passive smoking causes “some” or “lot of harm” compared to those who had no education. The findings suggested that more efforts, including some appropriate measures to address knowledge gaps, are needed to increase better perception about the harmful effects of passive smoking among young adults.

References

Orton S, Jones LL, Cooper S, Lewis S, Coleman T. Predictors of Children's Secondhand Smoke Exposure at Home: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis of the Evidence. PLoS One 2014; 9(11): e112690. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112690 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112690

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The health consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke: a report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006. Available from: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/second-handsmoke/fullreport.pdf.

Thomson G, Wilson N, Howden-Chapman P. Population level policy options for increasing the prevalence of smokefree homes. J Epidemiol Community Health 2006; 60(4): 298-304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2005.038091 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2005.038091

Action on Smoking and Health. ASH Research Report: Secondhand Smoke: the impact on children 2011. Available from: http://ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_596.pdf.

British Medical Association. Towards smoke-free public places. London, UK: British Medical Association Board of Science and Education & Tobacco Control Resource Centre 2002. Available from: http://bmaopac.hosted.exlibrisgroup. com/exlibris/aleph/a21_1/apache_media/TYID5HMRM7Q9NGGST69LIMGKHTKV2B.pdf.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health 2010. Available from: http://whyquit.com/CDC/ SGR_2010_How_Tobacco_Smoke_Causes_Disease.pdf.

World Health Organization. Global Adult Tobacco Survey Bangladesh Report 2009. World Health Organization, Country Office for Bangladesh: World Health Organization 2009. Available from: http://www.ban.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/ Publication_Global_Adult_Tobacco_Survey_Bangladesh_Report_2009_web.pdf.

Ullah ANZ, Huque R, Akter S, et al. Children's exposure to second-hand smoke at home in Bangladesh: a community survey. BMJ Open 2013; 3(11): e003059. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003059 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003059

World Health Organization. Impact of Tobacco-related Illnesses in Bangladesh. World Health Organization, Regional Office for South-East Asia, New Delhi: World Health Organization 2007. Available from: http://ban.searo.who.int/ LinkFiles/Publication_Tobacco_Free_Initiative_Health_Cost_ban.pdf.

Starr G, Rogers T, Schooley M, et al. Key Outcome indicators for Evaluating Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention 2005.

Song AV, Glantz SA, Halpern-Felsher BL. Perceptions of second-hand smoke risks predict future adolescent smoking initiation. J Adolesc Health 2009; 45(6): 618-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.04.022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.04.022

King BA, Dube SR, Babb SD. Perceptions about the harm of secondhand smoke exposure among US middle and high school students: findings from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Tob Induc Dis 2013; 11(1): 16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1617-9625-11-16 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1617-9625-11-16

ITC Project (March 2011). ITC Netherlands Survey. Report on Smokers’ Awareness of the Health Risks of Smoking and Exposure to Second-hand Smoke. Ontario, Canada: University of Waterloo 2011. Available from: http://www. itcproject.org/files/Report_Publications/National_Summary/itcnetherlandsknowledgefinal.pdf.

Abdullah AS, Hitchman SC, Driezen P, et al. Socioeconomic differences in exposure to tobacco smoke pollution (TSP) in Bangladeshi households with children: Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Bangladesh Survey. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2011; 8(3): 842-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8030842 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8030842

McCarthy M, Germain D, Brennan E, Durkin S. Perceptions about the health effects of smoking and passive smoking among Victorian adults, 2003–2007. CBRC Research Paper Series No. 37. Melbourne, Australia: Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, The Cancer Council Victoria 2009. Available from: http://www.cancervic.org.au/downloads/cbrc_ research_papers/perceptions_health2006_rps27.pdf.

Naghavi M, Wang H, Lozano R, et al. Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet 2015; 385(9963): 117-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61682-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61682-2

Samet J, Yoon S. Women and the tobacco epidemic: challenges for the 21st century. WHO Monograph WHO. NMH/TFI/01.1. Geneva: World Health Organization 2001. Available from: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2001/WHO_ NMH_TFI_01.1.pdf.

Bhanji S, Andrades M, Taj F, Khuwaja AK. Factors related to knowledge and perception of women about smoking: a cross sectional study from a developing country. BMC Womens Health 2011; 11(1): 16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-11-16 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-11-16

Yang T, Li F, Yang X, et al. Smoking patterns and sociodemographic factors associated with tobacco use among Chinese rural male residents: a descriptive analysis. BMC Public Health 2008; 8(1): 248. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-248 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-248

Hammond D, Fong GT, McNeill A, Borland R, Cummings KM. Effectiveness of cigarette warning labels in informing smokers about the risks of smoking: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey. Tob Control 2006; 15(suppl 3): iii19-iii25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tc.2005.012294 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/tc.2005.012294

Downloads

Published

2016-12-09

How to Cite

Sultana, R., Akter, J., Nahar, N., Faruque, M., Ara, B. R., & Ahmed, M. K. (2016). Perceptions about the Health Effects of Passive Smoking among Bangladeshi Young Adults. International Journal of Statistics in Medical Research, 5(4), 248–254. https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-6029.2016.05.04.3

Issue

Section

General Articles