Addressing Passive Smoking in Children

Abstract

BackgroundA significant number of parents are unaware or unconvinced of the health consequences of passive smoking (PS) in children. Physicians could increase parental awareness by giving personal advice.AimTo evaluate the current practices of three Dutch health professions (paediatricians, youth health care physicians, and family physicians) regarding parental counselling for passive smoking (PS) in children.MethodsAll physicians (n = 720) representing the three health professions in Limburg, the Netherlands, received an invitation to complete a self-administered electronic questionnaire including questions on their: sex, work experience, personal smoking habits, counselling practices and education regarding PS in children.ResultsThe response rate was 34%. One tenth (11%) of the responding physicians always addressed PS in children, 32% often, 54% occasionally and 4% reported to never attend to it. The three health professions appeared comparable regarding their frequency of parental counselling for PS in children. Addressing PS was more likely when children had respiratory problems. Lack of time was the most frequently mentioned barrier, being very and somewhat applicable for respectively 14% and 43% of the physicians. One fourth of the responders had received postgraduate education about PS. Additionally, 49% of the responders who did not have any education about PS were interested in receiving it.ConclusionsPhysicians working in the paediatric field in Limburg, the Netherlands, could more frequently address PS in children with parents. Lack of time appeared to be the most mentioned barrier and physicians were more likely to counsel parents for PS in children with respiratory complaints/diseases. Finally, a need for more education on parental counselling for PS was expressed.

Chinese Pediatrician Attitudes and Practices Regarding Child Exposure to Secondhand Smoke (SHS) and Clinical Efforts against SHS Exposure

“…The lack of efficient and effective training might be one reason why pediatricians rarely implement effective children’s SHS exposure reduction interventions with smoking parents [ 24 , 25 ]. Similarly, other studies [ 17 , 19 , 24 , 26 ], have shown lack of time to talk with parents as another key barrier to reducing SHS exposure to children and promoting smoking cessation counseling. Researchers have indicated pediatrician’s provision of a brief advice regarding children’s exposure to SHS as an effective first step to make children’ parents quit smoking [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Motivational interviewing and urine cotinine feedback to stop passive smoke exposure in children predisposed to asthma: a randomised controlled trial

“…Future studies on this topic could focus more on how to overcome the defensive barrier of parents to participate in such studies, especially the hard-to-reach population of low social-economic status and/or heavy smokers. A Dutch study demonstrated that doctors infrequently discuss the topic of PS with parents 41 . In the PREPASE study, parents were more willing to participate when they were actively recruited via their physician.…”

Primary Care Healthcare Professionals’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards Promoting the Reduction of Children’s Secondhand Smoke Exposure: A Mixed-Methods Review and Synthesis

“…Fifteen studies were cross sectional surveys [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] , including 5287 participants; one study also collected data from electronic healthcare records 32 . Two studies collected data solely from medical records 41,42 .…”