Sarwat Karam Shah, Helen Tilbrook and Kamran Siddiqi
Presenter(s)
Sarwat Karam Shah Research Fellow, University of York
Abstract
The UK comprehensive national smoke-free legislation reduced exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS). However, exposure remains high among low socio-economic groups. Little is known about the SHS exposure in minority ethnic groups in the UK which have significantly higher male smoking prevalence (41% Bangladeshi men, 29% Pakistani men) than the general British population (24%). Higher SHS exposure could contribute to the health inequalities between people of South Asian-origin and their White British counterparts. We examined SHS exposure levels among non-smoking adults and children of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin.
Methods
The study reports baseline SHS exposure in non-smoking adults and children participating in an RCT of the ‘Muslim Communities Learning about SHS’ (MCLASS. Households with at least one smoking and one non-smoking individual were recruited from West Yorkshire and Birmingham. Salivary cotinine levels of non-smoking adults and children were measured. SHS exposure levels were set at: <0.1 ng/ml=not exposed, 0.1- 12ng/ml=exposed) and >12ng/ml=possible smoker/tobacco user 2.
Results
Out of 187 saliva samples, about 62% (113/187; 95%CI 54-68) indicated that the non-smoker was exposed to SHS.
Conclusions
The SHS exposure levels among non-smokers of Bangladeshi- and Pakistani-origin living with a smoker are much higher than from the general British population (42% 95%CI 35-50).
