Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke from husband more strongly impacts on the airway obstruction of nonsmoking women

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flowchart of the study subjects who underwent health checkup.

Notes: Control was defined as without ETS exposure from any housemate. Group A included ETS exposure from husband only. Group B included ETS exposure from housemates other than husband. Group C included ETS exposure from husband and other housemates.
Abbreviation: ETS, environmental tobacco smoke.

Table 1 Characteristics of the study participants

Characteristics	Control (n=187)	ETS exposure from housemates
		Group A (n=308)	Group B (n=128)	Group C (n=188)
Age (years)	65.8±10.9	68.3±9.7**	65.8±9.6	66.1±11.0
BMI	22.3±3.4	22.3±3.8	22.5±3.4	22.4±3.1
Respiratory symptoms, n (%)
Cough	30 (16.0)	80 (26.0)*	41 (32.0)**	49 (26.1)*
Sputum	44 (23.5)	102 (33.1)*	48 (37.5)**	54 (28.7)*
Wheeze	13 (7.0)	26 (8.4)	8 (6.3)	24 (12.8)*
Allergies	56 (29.9)	82 (26.6)	40 (31.3)†	52 (27.7)
Comorbidities, n (%)
Cancers	0 (0.0)	10 (3.2)	2 (1.6)	5 (2.7)
Diabetes	7 (3.7)	18 (5.8)	7 (5.5)	8 (4.3)
CAD	6 (3.2)	9 (2.9)	3 (2.3)	4 (2.1)
Family history, n (%)
COPD	9 (4.8)	34 (11.0)*	9 (7.0)	26 (13.8)**
Asthma	14 (7.5)	33 (10.7)	16 (12.5)	25 (13.3)*
Housemate’s smoking habits during living period
Cigarettes/day	–	19±10	16±9	20±10
Smoking year		28±14‡	21±13	27±14‡
Pack-years	–	44±33‡‡	31±43	44±33‡‡
Indoor/outdoor		207/101	92/36††	158/30†††
ETS exposure in childhood, n (%)	–	152 (49.4)	83 (64.8)††	138 (73.4)†††
ETS exposure at work, n
Current/former/never	15/66/106	26/134/148*	16/51/61	34/78/76**
Office/laborer/service/farm/other	27/4/24/1/25	60/8/43/5/44	28/4/20/2/13	34/6/35/3/34

Notes:

Data are represented as mean ± standard deviation or number (%).

* Vs control, p<0.05;

** vs control, p<0.01;

† vs Group A, p<0.05;

†† vs Group A, p<0.01;

††† vs Group A, p<0.001;

‡ vs Group B, p<0.05;

‡‡ vs Group B, p<0.01. Control was defined as without ETS exposure from any housemate. Group A included ETS exposure from husband only. Group B included ETS exposure from housemates other than husband. Group C included ETS exposure from husband and other housemates.

Abbreviations: ETS, environmental tobacco smoke; BMI, body mass index; CAD, coronary artery disease.

Table 2 Comparison of lung function in nonsmoking women grouped according to ETS exposure

Characteristics	Control (n=187)	ETS exposure from housemates
		Group A (n=308)	Group B (n=128)	Group C (n=188)
FVC
L	2.29 (1.93–2.59)	2.28 (1.98–2.58)	2.36 (2.03–2.61)	2.32 (2.05–2.66)
% predicted	95 (86–105)	98 (88–109)	97 (90–106)	98 (89–109)
FEV1
L	1.90 (1.59–2.17)	1.78 (1.53–2.04)	1.93 (1.62–2.17)	1.82 (1.59–2.07)
% predicted	98 (89–108)	96 (86–107)	98 (89–109)	95 (86–105)
FEV1/FVC, %	82 (79–86)	77 (74–81)***,†††	82 (78–84)**	79 (75–81)***,††
FEV1/FVC <70%, %	1.1	7.5**,††	0.8	6.4*,†

Notes:

Data are represented as median (IQR) or %.

* Vs control, p<0.05;

** vs control, p<0.01;

*** vs control, p<0.001;

† vs Group B, p<0.05;

†† vs Group B, p<0.01 and

††† vs Group B, p<0.001. Control was defined as without ETS exposure from any housemate. Group A included ETS exposure from husband only. Group B included ETS exposure from housemates other than husband. Group C included ETS exposure from husband and other housemates.

Abbreviations: ETS, environmental tobacco smoke; FVC, forced vital capacity; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; IQR, interquartile range; L, liter.

Table 3 Multiple logistic regression analysis of airway obstruction among nonsmoking women

ETS exposure from housemates	Crude		Adjusteda
	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
Husband	4.04§§§	1.83–8.93	3.53§§	1.48–8.42
Parents	1.53	0.73–3.23	2.43§	1.02–5.75
Siblings	0.65	0.09–4.87	0.60	0.08–4.62
Dependants	0.32	0.08–1.37	0.22	0.05–1.00
Husband	4.04§§§	1.83–8.93	3.53§§	1.48–8.42
Parents	1.53	0.73–3.23	2.43§	1.02–5.75
Siblings	0.65	0.09–4.87	0.60	0.08–4.62
Dependants	0.32	0.08–1.37	0.22	0.05–1.00

Notes:

a Adjusted for age, housemate’s smoking habits, family history of asthma/COPD, ETS exposure in childhood and ETS exposure at work.

§ p<0.05,

§§ p<0.01 and

§§§ p<0.001.

Abbreviations: ETS, environmental tobacco smoke; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.