Abstract
Second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) causes adverse health outcomes in adults. Further studies are needed to evaluate psychosocial SHS exposure measures in comparison to SHS exposure biomarkers, particularly in pregnant women. This study aimed to compare self-reported SHS exposure to urinary cotinine levels in pregnant women. A cross-sectional correlation design was conducted using a convenience sample of 70 non-smoking pregnant women. Measures included self-reported questionnaires and laboratory confirmation of cotinine levels in the urinary samples. Mul-tiple regression analysis was used to assess the correlation after controlling for potential confound-ing variables. The average level of urinary cotinine among non-smoking pregnant women was 6.77 ng/mL. Medium-strength correlations were found among psychosocial SHS exposure measures and urine cotinine levels. Questions regarding ‘instances of smoking in front of the individual’ and ‘sub-jective perceived frequency of SHS exposure in past 7 days’ are feasible items for pregnant women in clinics (particularly the first question). Hence, we suggest that these simple questions should be used to assist pregnant women in reducing the harm associated with SHS exposure.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 9197 |
Journal | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 17 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: This research was financially supported by the Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, grant number SCRPFG031 and Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, grant number ZRRPF6J0011.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Biomarkers
- Environmental tobacco smoke exposure
- Pregnant women
- Urine cotinine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pollution
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis