Parents' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours in relation to passive smoke exposure amongst children

Abstract

Although passive smoke exposure is known to cause harmful effects in children and studies have verified this (Cook, Strachan & Carey, 1999; Dunn et al, 2008), parents still choose to smoke. The prevalence of smoking has increased in Europe (Dobson et al., 1998) whilst parents are more aware about precautions which can be taken when their children are present and most of them make efforts to protect them against this exposure (Johansson, Hermansson & Ludvigsson, 2004). The aim of the study was to measure parents' knowledge and attitudes about passive smoke exposure amongst children and examines smoking behaviour in the presence of children amongst those parents who smoke. A quantitative, cross sectional design was used. The sample, selected by convenience sampling, consisted of 46 individuals who were parents and happened to be visiting a general practitioner within three different health centres on the day data was gathered. The response rate was 92%. A questionnaire, based on literature reviewed, was formulated and used to collect data. The study revealed that participants were well aware about the fact that passive smoking causes harm to children. They were particularly knowledgeable about the increased risk of children for developing asthma after prolonged exposure to tobacco smoke. However more knowledge about the other conditions which are caused by passive smoking is needed.

Attitudes towards prevention of passive smoking amongst children were also overall positive. Non-smoking parents had a more positive attitude than smoking parents. Issues about rights of smokers and rights of children seemed to conflict and this was due to the fact that children are exposed to other pollutants anyway. Restrictions imposed by law also seemed to conflict with parents' attitudes towards children's rights. When it came to smoking behaviour, most smoking parents claimed that they took precautions in their home to limit exposure of their children to environmental tobacco smoke. The most common precaution implemented was smoking outside with closed doors and most parents said that they always followed these precautions. On the other hand 44% of smoking parents reported smoking in their car in the presence of their children. From these findings, some recommendations were drawn. Amongst these was the recommendation for future studies be done on a much larger scale, including a more representative sample. Health care professionals, including nurses, should be involved in implementing client-centred educational strategies to parents. Educational programmes on passive smoke exposure towards children including clarification of myths and misconceptions were also suggested.