The Relationship Between Personal Factors, Smoke Exposure at Home, and Respiratory Problems in Early Childhood in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand

Figures & data

Table 1 Number of Samples in Each Health-Promoting Hospital (n = 414)

District	Health-Promoting Hospital	n
Chulabhorn District	Bansomkuan Health Promoting Hospital	83
	Bankahonua Health Promoting Hospital	82
	Bansamtambon Health Promoting Hospital	83
Ron Phibun District	Bansapang Health Promoting Hospital	83
	Ban Kuan Koei Health Promoting Hospital	83

Table 2 Number and Percentage of Personal Data in Early Childhood (n = 414)

Personal Data in Early Childhood	n	%
Sex
Male	211	51.0
Female	203	49.0
Age (Month), (Min = 3.5 years, Max = 5 years, Mean = 3.70, S.D. = 0.60)
3–4 years	151	36.5
> 4–5 years	263	63.5
Nutritional status
Underweight	25	6.0
Normal	332	80.2
≥ Overweight	57	13.8
Labor History
Preterm labor	46	11.1
Full-term labor	339	81.9
Postterm labor	29	7.0
Birth weight
≤ 2500 gm	23	5.6
> 2500 gm	391	94.4
Post-labor breastfeeding
< 6 months	125	30.2
≥ 6 months	289	69.8

Table 3 Number and Percentage of Personal Data of Caregivers and Smokers in Families (n = 414)

Personal Data of Caregivers	n	%
Sex
Male	140	33.8
Female	274	66.2
Age of caregivers (years) (Min = 19, Max = 72, Mean = 40.28, S.D. = 12.03)
19–40 years	284	68.6
41–60 years	86	20.8
> 60 years	44	10.6
Religion
Buddhist	411	99.3
Other	3	0.7
Marital status
Single/Widowed/Divorced/Separated	84	20.3
Married	330	79.7
Occupation
Unemployed	66	15.9
Hireling	52	12.6
Merchant	77	18.6
Agriculturist	101	24.4
Business person	49	11.8
Government officer/Company employee	69	16.7
Educational level
Below high school	92	22.2
High school or equivalent	206	49.8
Diploma/Bachelor’s degree, and higher	116	28.0
Monthly income
< 5000 baht/month	79	19.1
5000–10,000 baht/month	63	15.2
10,001–20,000 baht/month	141	34.1
> 20,000 baht/month	131	31.8
Smoking history
No	300	72.5
Yes	114	27.5
Relationship between caregivers and child
Parents	304	73.4
Grandparents/ relatives	110	26.6
Number of smokers in families
1	317	76.6
2–3	97	23.4
Smoker person in families of early childhood
Father	161	38.9
Father, grandfather, and relatives	253	61.1

Table 4 Number and Percentage of Smoke Exposure at Home in Early Childhood (n = 414)

Smoke Exposure at Home	Frequency of Smoke Exposure
	Usually	Often	Sometimes	Once in a while
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
1. Children were directly exposed to smoking.	102 (24.6)	188 (45.4)	112 (27.1)	12 (2.9)
2. Children walked past smoking areas at home.	89 (21.5)	197 (47.6)	118 (28.5)	10 (2.4)
3. Children did activities in smoking areas at home.	125 (30.2)	168 (40.6)	116 (28.0)	5 (1.2)
4. Children were exposed to smoke left on tables, chairs, sofas, clothing, curtains, and carpets.	151 (36.5)	148 (35.7)	103 (24.9)	12 (2.9)
5. Children touched the body parts of smokers, eg, hands, arms, and face.	163 (39.4)	128 (30.9)	109 (26.3)	14 (3.4)
6. Children hugged smokers at home/kissed on the cheek.	139 (33.6)	172 (41.5)	91 (22.0)	12 (2.9)

Table 5 Number and Percentage of Symptoms of Respiratory Problems in Early Childhood (n = 414)

Symptoms	Respiratory Problems
	No		Yes
	(n)	(%)	(n)	(%)
Symptoms in the past 6 months
Eye irritation and tears	354	85.5	60	14.5
Nasal congestion, sneezing, and runny nose	167	40.3	247	59.7
Throat irritation and sore throat	243	58.7	171	41.3
Coughs/ Phlegm	225	54.3	189	45.7
Asthma, dyspnea, and panting	362	87.4	52	12.6
Wheezes	365	88.2	49	11.8
Tightness in chest	391	94.4	23	5.6

Table 6 Number and Percentage of Smoke Exposure, Illness, and Treatment in Early Childhood (n = 414)

Smoke Exposure, Illness, and Treatment	n	%
Smoke exposure at home
Low	191	46.1
Moderate	216	52.2
High	7	1.7
History of illnesses caused by respiratory diseases in early childhood
No	129	31.2
Yes	285	68.8
History of treatment at government or private service establishments due to respiratory symptoms
No	246	59.4
Yes	168	40.6
History of treatment for respiratory diseases in the past 6 months
Common cold	80	47.6
Bronchitis	47	28.0
Allergic rhinitis	32	19.1
Pneumonia	9	5.3

Table 7 Relationship Between Personal Factors, Smoke Exposure at Home, and Respiratory Problems in Early Childhood (n = 414)

Factors	Respiratory Problems
	No (n = 129)	Yes (n = 285)	X^2	df	p-value
	n (%)	n (%)
Nutritional status			0.727	2	0.695
Underweight	6 (24.0)	19 (76.0)
Normal	104 (31.3)	228 (68.7)
≥ Overweight	19 (33.3)	38 (66.7)
Breastfeeding			0.877	1	0.349
≥ 6 months	86 (29.7)	203 (70.3)
< 6 months	43 (34.4)	82 (65.6)
Birth weight			5.014	1	0.025*
> 2500 g	117 (29.9)	274 (70.1)
≤ 2500 g	12 (52.2)	11 (47.8)
Smoke exposure at home			85.711	2	0.000**
Low	103 (53.9)	88 (46.1)
Moderate	25 (11.6)	191 (88.4)
High	1 (14.3)	6 (85.7)

Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.001.

Table 8 Factors Related to Respiratory Problems in Early Childhood as Analyzed by Binary Logistic Regression (n = 414)

Factors	Respiratory Problems
	No (n = 129)	Yes (n = 285)	AOR	95% CI	p-value
	n (%)	n (%)
Nutritional status					0.695
Normal ^ref.	6 (24.0)	19 (76.0)
Underweight	104 (31.3)	228 (68.7)	0.69	0.27–1.82
≥ Overweight	19 (33.3)	38 (66.7)	0.63	0.22–1.84
Breastfeeding					0.349
6 months ^ref.	86 (29.7)	207 (70.3)
Below 6 months	43 (34.4)	82 (65.6)	1.23	0.79–1.94
Birth weight					0.025*
> 2500 g ^ref.	117 (29.9)	274 (70.1)
≤ 2500 g	12 (52.2)	11 (47.8)	2.55	1.10–5.96
Smoke exposure at home					0.000**
Low ^ref.	103 (53.9)	88 (46.1)
Moderate-High	26 (11.7)	197 (88.3)	8.86	5.39–14.60

Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.001.

Abbreviation: ref, reference group.