Has something changed in the smoking attitudes of parents in the household in the last 15 years? Epidemiological survey among the students of the city of Agrigento [È cambiato qualcosa nelle abitudini dei genitori fumatori in ambito domestico negli ultimi 15 anni? Indagine epidemiologica tra gli alunni della città di Agrigento]

BACKGROUND: Exposure of children to passive tobacco smoking in the household setting has been demonstrated to cause respiratory diseases. Early atherosclerosis has also been demonstrated in young people previously exposed to passive tobacco smoking. Functional damage can initiate at the fetal age due to maternal smoking, with a tendency towards over-time progress. To date only scant data are available about indoor parental smoking attitudes and their changes after campaigns against smoke and risk factors in exposed youths. Questionnaires are useful tools in order to search for information on cigarette smoking and parental household lifestyle. In this study, we asked pupils of primary schools for providing information on their relatives' every 5 years throughout the period 1994-2009. METHODS: A multiple-choice answer questionnaire about sharing household parental smoking was administered to all primary school children (mean age 10.5 ± 0.5 years) of the city of Agrigento (Sicily, Italy). RESULTS: A total of 2221 questionnaires were collected from 637 children in 1994, 687 in 1999, 516 in 2004, and 381 in 2009. Important findings show a significant reduction in both smoking parents and exposure to passive tobacco smoking (from 64% in 1994 to 45% in 2009, p<0.00001). In 2009, 22% of mothers and 39% of fathers resulted to be smokers in the household setting yet. CONCLUSIONS: In agreement with the 2011 Italian DOXA survey on the general population, the present study demonstrates a negative trend in the prevalence of household smoker parents (predominantly mothers) and exposure of children to passive tobacco smoking. These results likely reflect such a greater awareness about smoke-related risks in children, and the effectiveness of medical campaigns against cardiovascular risk factors as well.