Comparing mothers and fathers' reports of secondhand smoke exposure in children at home after implementation of the smoke free legislation in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: The majority of smokers are men in Hong Kong, and women and children are often exposed to secondhand smoke in the home. We assessed the frequency of SHS exposure of children at home, who are living with a smoking father and a non-smoking mother and the level of agreement of the parental reports. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey on parents (smoking fathers and non-smoking mothers) with children under 12 years old, who attended the Maternal and Child Health Centres and/or Student Health Service Centres of the Department of Health in Hong Kong. Parents who consented to participate will be interviewed using a questionnaire via the telephone.

Results: A total of 363 families participated in the survey. The fathers' mean age was 40.8�8.3 years and 61.2% of them had a mild level of nicotine dependency. The mothers' mean age was 36.6�5.7 years and 50.6% were housewives. 29.5% of the fathers and 31.5% of the mothers reported that �fathers never smoked at home'. The percentage of agreement of the parental reports of father smoking at home was 70.7% (253/358). More mothers than fathers reported that �fathers never smoked around their children' (60.2% vs. 57.9%) and there was a discrepancy between the mothers' and the fathers' reports on the frequency of �father smoking around children' with 60.7% (218/359) of agreement

Conclusions: The parent-reported frequency of SHS exposure in children at home in Hong Kong was 70%, which is higher than those reported in the literature (<57%). The fathers actually smoked more frequently at home and around their children than as perceived by the mothers. Our results suggest that parental education on maintaining a smokefree home is of paramount importance, especially after the enactment of the smokefree legislation, to protect children from SHS exposure.

Funding: Studies in Health Services (Project No: SHS-T-02)