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Screening for secondhand smoke in schoolchildren in Japan
Author(s) -
Ino Toshihiro,
Kurosawa Kazuo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/ped.12630
Subject(s) - cotinine , medicine , secondhand smoke , passive smoking , pediatrics , environmental health , sss* , nicotine
Background There is no systematic screening for secondhand smoke exposure in children. Methods In 2002, we began a secondhand smoke screening (SSS) program for grade 4 elementary schoolchildren with the cooperation of public administration. The SSS program consisted of urinary cotinine measurement in children and a questionnaire survey of their parents. Results More than 1200 schoolchildren were enrolled in this program annually. The level of urinary cotinine in 30% of the children was >5 ng/mL, whereas in half of them it was undetectable. The major risk factor affecting cotinine level was mother's smoking. Average cotinine was significantly high in children who had a history of “short stature”, “decayed tooth and/or periodontal disease,” and “frequent stridor”. In addition, the highest level of cotinine was detected in children whose father and/or mother smoked in the living room and the lowest level of cotinine was detected in children whose father and/or mother smoked on the veranda or outside the door. These levels, however, were two–fivefold higher than in children whose parents did not smoke. On follow‐up questionnaire survey 4 years after initial SSS, significant elevated motivation for smoking cessation was noted. Conclusions The SSS program is a very simple mass screen that can be done using only a urine test and is very effective for motivating parents to stop smoking with regard to cost benefit.