Purpose:

An exploratory study was conducted to assess the influence of passive smoking (PS) on school-aged children's asthma experiences.

Significance:

Passive smoking (PS) exposes children to smoke particles that contain tar and nicotine which contribute to narrowing of bronchioles and reduced ciliary action which compromises ventilation and airway clearance. Exposure to PS, both in utero and environmentally in childhood, is implicated in the rising incidence of childhood asthma.

Design:

Analysis of baseline data of a large ongoing study of childhood asthma.

Methods:

Questionnaires were completed at the time of study enrollment by parents and their school-aged children who have asthma.

Results:

There were 94 children in grades 2 to 5 with 58 boys (62%) and 36 girls (38%); sample ethnicity was 24% African American, 27% White, and 49% Hispanic; and 29 homes had smokers and 65 had no smokers. There were no significantly different asthma morbidity outcomes (absenteeism, hospital stays, emergency department visits) for the children who lived with smokers. Their asthma severity and quality of life scores were not significantly different. However, parents in homes with smokers reported performing significantly more asthma management behaviors (t = -2.272, df = 88, P = .026) than did parents who lived in homes with no smoker.

Conclusions:

Limitation of using secondary analysis is using variables that were selected for other purposes. School-aged children may not be experiencing more negative effects due to extended time they spend away from home (eg, school, sports, activities). The increased work parents are performing may offset the effects of PS on the child's respiratory health.

The incidence of smoking (31%) in the homes of children with asthma has implications for family education: (1) home management to reduce children's exposure to passive smoke and (2) health promotion (smoking cessation) for the family smoker(s).