Joan Friebely

Beliefs About the Health Effects of "Thirdhand" Smoke and Home Smoking Bans

OBJECTIVE. There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Thirdhand smoke is residual tobacco smoke contamination that remains after the cigarette is extinguished. Children are uniquely susceptible to thirdhand smoke exposure. The objective of this study was to assess health beliefs of adults regarding thirdhand smoke exposure of children and whether smokers and nonsmokers differ in those beliefs. We hypothesized that beliefs about thirdhand smoke would be associated with household smoking bans. METHODS. Data were collected by a national random-digit-dial telephone survey from September to November 2005. The sample was weighted by race and gender within Census region on the basis of US Census data. The study questions assessed the level of agreement with statements that breathing air in a room today where people smoked yesterday can harm the health of children. RESULTS. Of 2000 eligible respondents contacted, 1510 (87%) completed surveys, 1478 (97.9%) answered all questions pertinent to this analysis, and 273 (18.9%) were smokers. Overall, 95.4% of nonsmokers versus 84.1% of smokers agreed that secondhand smoke harms the health of children, and 65.2% of nonsmokers versus 43.3% of smokers agreed that thirdhand smoke harms children. Strict rules prohibiting smoking in the home were more prevalent among nonsmokers: 88.4% vs 26.7%. In multivariate logistic regression, after controlling for certain variables, belief that thirdhand smoke harms the health of children remained independently associated with rules prohibiting smoking in the home. Belief that secondhand smoke harms the health of children was not independently associated with rules prohibiting smoking in the home and car. CONCLUSIONS. This study demonstrates that beliefs about the health effects of thirdhand smoke are independently associated with home smoking bans. Emphasizing that thirdhand smoke harms the health of children may be an important element in encouraging home smoking bans.

A National Survey of the Acceptability of Quitlines to Help Parents Quit Smoking

OBJECTIVE. Provision of telephone smoking cessation counseling can increase the rate of quitting smoking. The US Public Health Service recently helped to establish a free national quitline enrollment service. No previous surveys have assessed the acceptability to parents of enrollment in quitline counseling in the context of their childs health care visits. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess acceptability to parents of enrollment in quitline counseling and to compare that with the reported rate of actually being enrolled in any smoking cessation counseling outside the office in the context of the childs health care visit. METHODS. Data were collected by a national random-digit-dial telephone survey of households from September to November 2004. The sample is weighted by race and gender on the basis of the current US Census to be representative of the US population. RESULTS. Of 3615 eligible respondents contacted, 3011 (83.3%) completed surveys; 958 (31.8%) who completed the survey were parents with children under the age of 18 years. Of these parents, 187 (19.7%) were self-identified smokers. Of the parents who smoked, 113 (64.2%) said that they would accept enrollment in a telephone cessation program if the childs doctor offered it to them. In contrast, of the 122 smoking parents who accompanied their child to the doctor in the past year, only 11 (9%) had any counseling recommended to them, and only 1 (0.8%) was actually enrolled. These results did not vary by parent age, gender, race, or child age. CONCLUSIONS. When interacting with parents who smoke, child health care providers have low rates of referring and enrolling parents in any services related to smoking. Enrollment in quitlines would be acceptable to the majority of parents in the context of their childs health care visit. Tobacco control efforts in the child health care setting should include implementation of office systems that can facilitate enrollment of parental smokers in telephone quitlines.

Parents smoking in their cars with children present.

OBJECTIVE: To determine prevalence and factors associated with strictly enforced smoke-free car policies among smoking parents. METHODS: As part of a cluster, randomized controlled trial addressing parental smoking, exit interviews were conducted with parents whose children were seen in 10 control pediatric practices. Parents who smoked were asked about smoking behaviors in their car and receipt of smoke-free car advice at the visit. Parents were considered to have a “strictly enforced smoke-free car policy” if they reported having a smoke-free car policy and nobody had smoked in their car within the past 3 months. RESULTS: Of 981 smoking parents, 817 (83%) had a car; of these, 795 parents answered questions about their car smoking policy. Of these 795 parents, 29% reported having a smoke-free car policy, and 24% had a strictly enforced smoke-free car policy. Of the 562 parents without a smoke-free car policy, 48% reported that smoking occurred with children present. Few parents who smoke (12%) were advised to have a smoke-free car. Multivariable logistic regression controlling for parent age, gender, education, and race showed that having a younger child and smoking ≤10 cigarettes per day were associated with having a strictly enforced smoke-free car policy. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of smoking parents exposed their children to tobacco smoke in cars. Coupled with the finding of low rates of pediatricians addressing smoking in cars, this study highlights the need for improved pediatric interventions, public health campaigns, and policies regarding smoke-free car laws to protect children from tobacco smoke.

Pheromonal influences on sociosexual behavior in postmenopausal women

To determine whether a putative human sex‐attractant pheromone increases specific sociosexual behaviors of postmenopausal women, we tested a chemically synthesized formula derived from research with underarm secretions from heterosexually active, fertile women that was recently tested on young women. Participants (n = 44, mean age = 57 years) were postmenopausal women who volunteered for a double‐blind placebo‐controlled study designed “to test an odorless pheromone, added to your preferred fragrance, to learn if it might increase the romance in your life.” During the experimental 6‐week period, a significantly greater proportion of participants using the pheromone formula (40.9%) than placebo (13.6%) recorded an increase over their own weekly average baseline frequency of petting, kissing, and affection (p = .02). More pheromone (68.2%) than placebo (40.9%) users experienced an increase in at least one of the four intimate sociosexual behaviors (p = .04). Sexual motivation frequency, as expressed in masturbation, was not increased in pheromone users. These results suggest that the pheromone formulation worn with perfume for a period of 6 weeks has sex‐attractant effects for postmenopausal women.

Acceptability of Testing Children for Tobacco-Smoke Exposure: A National Parent Survey

BACKGROUND: Tests are available to measure childrens exposure to tobacco smoke. One potential barrier to testing children for tobacco-smoke exposure is the belief that parents who smoke would not want their child tested. No previous surveys have assessed whether testing children for exposure to tobacco smoke in the context of their childs primary care visit is acceptable to parents. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether testing children for tobacco-smoke exposure is acceptable to parents. DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a national random-digit-dial telephone survey of households from September to November 2006. The sample was weighted by race and gender, based on the 2005 US Census, to be representative of the US population. RESULTS: Of 2070 eligible respondents contacted, 1803 (87.1%) completed the surveys. Among 477 parents in the sample, 60.1% thought that children should be tested for tobacco-smoke exposure at their childs doctor visit. Among the parental smokers sampled, 62.0% thought that children should be tested for tobacco-smoke exposure at the childs doctor visit. In bivariate analysis, lower parental education level, allowing smoking in the home, nonwhite race, and female gender were each associated (P < .05) with wanting the child tested for tobacco-smoke exposure. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of nonsmoking and smoking parents want their children tested for tobacco-smoke exposure during the childs health care visit.