ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the association between secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) and asthma symptoms, medication use, and emergency department (ED)/urgent care (UC) utilization among adolescents. Methods: We performed a secondary cross-sectional analysis of Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study Wave 2 (2014–2015) including asthmatic adolescents (N = 2198). Logistic regression models and Poisson regression models were built. Results: Participants with SHSe ≥1 hour in the past 7 days were at increased risk of reporting shortness of breath and harder to exercise aOR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.04–1.43), wheezing (aOR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.01–1.56), wheezing disturbing sleep (aOR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.35–2.63), wheezing during/after exercise (aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.19–1.66), wheezing limiting speech (aOR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.55–2.86), dry cough at night (aOR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.54–2.24), and asthma symptoms disturbing sleep (aOR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.81–2.79). Participants with SHSe ≥1 hour were more likely to take asthma medications (aOR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.03–1.52), including steroids (aOR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.19–2.91), oxygen therapy (aOR, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.82–4.54), and controlling medications (aOR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.24–1.82). Symptoms and medications varied by living with a smoker and home SHSe. Participants with SHSe were at increased risk of having a higher number of asthma attacks that required steroid use. Participants who lived with a smoker and had home SHSe were at increased risk of having higher ED/UC visits for asthma. Conclusions: SHSe reduction efforts are needed for asthmatic adolescents, and EDs/UCs are promising venues.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.