Is exposure to indoor secondhand smoke associated with poor mental health? Results from non-conflict and post-conflict setting

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between exposure to indoor SHS and self-reported HRQoL among healthy non-smoking students at the University of Belgrade, Serbia and Kosovska Mitrovica located in the post-conflict Kosovo province. Students who presented at Student Public Health Center in Belgrade in 2009 and Kosovska Mitrovica in 2015 for mandatory health checks were invited to participate. Data were collected using socio-demographic and behavioral questionnaire, health-related quality of life questionnaire Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). A total of 82.3% students in Belgrade sample and 76.0% in Kosovska Mitrovica sample reported daily exposure to indoor SHS. After adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics and behavior, daily exposure to indoor SHS for more than 6 hours was associated with poorer Vitality (β = −5.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] −9.49, −1.61) and Mental Health (β = 5.00, 95% CI-8.94, −1.07) only among students at the University of Belgrade. This study showed that the association between longer daily indoor SHS exposure and poor mental health HRQoL was not consistent in non-conflict and post-conflict setting. This association was not found in a post-conflict setting. Strict no smoking policies are needed in student housing, university campuses and all public spaces.

KEYWORDS:

• Secondhand smoke
• health-related quality of life
• students
• university
• mental health

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research involving human participants

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee (Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade on April 24, 2009, file No. 440/IV-1; Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine University of Pristina temporarily seated in Kosovska Mitrovica on April 2, 2015, file No. 01-503) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the studies.

Additional information

Funding

Tatjana Gazibara, Tatjana Pekmezovic, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic and Gorica Maric received grant from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Serbia (grant No. 175087).