The impact of second-hand smoke on ear, nose, and throat diseases and head and neck cancers in Japan: a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire and secondary data from the national health and nutrition survey

Abstract

Background

The risk of head and neck cancers (HNCs) and ear, nose, and throat (ENT) diseases due to second-hand smoke (SHS) have not been fully assessed.

Objective

To determine which ENT diseases or HNCs are associated with SHS.

Material and methods

Data from a survey of a cross-sectional sample of ENT patients (n = 1228) on SHS exposure were compared to control-subject data (n = 6598) from a Japan National Health Survey. Multivariate logistic regression and estimated odds ratios (ORs) determined whether SHS-disease associations were related to exposure location and disease occurrence.

Results

SHS was significantly associated with acute tonsillitis (OR in workplaces, 2.24 [95% CI, 1.34–3.75]; OR in restaurants, 4.24 [95% CI, 2.50–7.19]; OR in leisure places, 4.72 [95% CI, 2.93–7.62]); recurrent tonsillitis (OR in restaurants, 4.24 [95% CI, 2.52–7.13]; OR in leisure places, 5.29 [95% CI, 3.31–8.46]); facial palsy (OR in home, 2.18 [95% CI, 1.25–3.81]; OR in leisure places, 3.41 [95% CI, 1.97–5.89]); hypopharyngeal cancer (OR in home, 2.51 [95% CI, 1.18–5.36]; OR in workplaces, 2.53 [95% CI, 1.24–5.15]); and laryngeal cancer (OR in home, 2.44 [95% CI, 1.04–5.68]; OR in leisure places, 2.25 [95% CI, 1.00–5.07]).

Conclusions and significance

SHS may contribute to HNCs and ENT diseases, suggesting that merely being in the presence of smokers could increase the risk of head and neck morbidities.

Chinese abstract

背景：二手烟 (SHS)对头颈癌 (HNC) 和耳鼻喉 (ENT) 疾病的风险尚未得到充分评估。

目的：确定哪些ENT病或 HNC 与 SHS 相关。

材料和方法：将对暴露于二手烟的耳鼻喉科患者（n =1228）横断面样本调查的数据与日本国家健康调查的对照受试者数据 (n = 6598) 进行比较。多变量逻辑回归和估计比值比 (OR) 确定 SHS 与疾病的关系是否与暴露位置和疾病发生有关。

结果：SHS 与急性扁桃体炎显著相关（工作场所的 OR, 2.24 [95% CI, 1.34–3.75]；餐馆的OR, 4.24 [95% CI, 2.50–7.19]；休闲场所的OR, 4.72 [95% CI, 2.93–7.62]）；复发性扁桃体炎（餐厅的 OR, 4.24 [95% CI, 2.52–7.13]；休闲场所的 OR, 5.29 [95% CI, 3.31–8.46]）；面瘫（居所OR, 2.18 [95% CI, 1.25-3.81]；休闲场所OR, 3.41 [95% CI, 1.97–5.89]）；下咽癌（居所OR, 2.51 [95% CI, 1.18-5.36]；工作场所的 OR, 2.53 [95%CI, 1.24–5.15]）；喉癌（居所OR, 2.44 [95% CI, 1.04–5.68]；休闲场所 OR, 2.25[95% CI, 1.00–5.07]）。

结论和意义：SHS 可能导致 头颈癌和耳鼻喉疾病, 表明只要有吸烟者在场, 就可能会增加头颈部疾病的风险。

Keywords:

• Smoking
• secondhand smoke
• tonsillitis
• facial palsy
• hypopharyngeal cancer
• laryngeal cancer

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Keitaro Toshikuni, MD, for his contribution in preparing for data acquisition. The authors also thank Yoshihiko Hiraga, MD, for helpful discussions and data acquisition.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no other funding, financial relationships, or conflicts of interest to disclose.

Data availability statement

The data set analysed in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 The IRB of the Japanese Red Cross Saitama Hospital does not assign approval numbers.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Clinical Research from the National Hospital Organization [Grant no. H31-NHO (kankaku)-01].