Year: 2009
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Main Outcome Measures: Mean weekly duration of self-reported tobacco smoke exposure; geometric mean salivary cotinine.Cotinine is an excellent marker of exposure to tobacco.Low levels indicate exposure to other people's smoke; 12 ng/ml is the best cutoff for personal tobacco use.Analyses adjusted for the complex (stratified, clustered) sampling design and weighted for nonresponse to interview and saliva sample, as appropriate.Results: Most adult non-smokers reported no-one smoked in the home most days (93% before and 95% after 1st July 2007).Nonsmokers' mean self-reported exposure to tobacco smoke fell from 4.2 hrs (95% CI 3.6 to 4.9) before to 2.0 hrs (1.5 to 2.4) after 1st July in men and from 3.5 hrs (2.9 to 4.1) to 1.4 hrs (1.0 to 1.7) in women (both p,0.001).Exposure was inversely related to age-group but fell most in those with the highest exposure: from 5.9 hrs (4.9 to 6.9) to 2.8 hrs (2.3 to 3.3, p,0.001) aged 16-34 yrs; from 3.4 hrs (2.9 to 4.0) to 1.4 hrs (1.0 to 1.7, p,0.001) aged 35-64 yrs; and 2.1 hrs (1.5 to 2.7) to 0.9 hrs (0.4 to 1.4, p = 0.002) aged 65+.Similar falls occurred in all three NS-SEC groups: professional/managerial from 4.2 hrs (3.5 to 5.0) to 1.7 hrs (1.3 to 2.1); intermediate from 3.9 hrs (2.9 to 4.8) to 1.7 hrs (1.4 to 2.1); and routine/manual from 7.9 hrs (6.7 to 9.1) to 4.9 hrs (4.0 to 5.8) (all p,0.001).Overall, the proportion with undetectable salivary cotinine levels rose from 32% to 46% of cotinine-validated non-smokers.Geometric mean cotinine levels in cotinine-validated non-smoking adults fell from 0.20 ng/ml (95% CI 0.18 to 0.22) in the first half of 2007 to 0.14 ng/ ml (0.13 to 0.15) after 1st July 2007 in men and from 0.19 ng/ml (0.17 to 0.21) to 0.12 ng/ml (0.11 to 0.13) respectively in women (both p,0.001).As with self-reported exposure, levels before July 2007 were highest in the youngest age-group, who experienced the largest falls: from 0.23 ng/ml to 0.15 ng/ml aged 16-34, p,0.001; 0.17 ng/ml to 0.11 ng/ml aged 35-64, p,0.001; and 0.17 ng/ml to 0.14 ng/ml aged 65+, p = 0.001.Similar, significant falls occurred in all three NS-SEC groups.Conclusion: The legislation has been successful in its primary aim, to reduce the exposure of non-smokers to tobacco smoke pollution.It has decreased absolute inequalities.
Authors: K. Pirie, R. Peto, G. Reeves, V. Beral
Institution: University of Oxford
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1967777240