Knowledge and Opinions of Healthcare Professionals about Thirdhand Smoke: A Multi-National, Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

There is scarce evidence on the knowledge and opinions about third-hand smoke (THS) of health care professionals. The main aim of this study was to explore the knowledge and opinions of health care professionals about THS and, secondarily, to explore the factors that are associated with this knowledge. Cross-sectional study using a snowball sample of multi-national health care professionals (n = 233). Data were obtained from an exploratory, online questionnaire. The health care professionals’ knowledge and opinions on THS were described with absolute frequency and percentage. Chi-square and Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact tests, and simple logistic regression models, were used to explore the bivariate association between the knowledge of the concept THS and sex, continent of birth, educational level, occupation, years of experience, and attitude towards smoking. Finally, a multivariable logistic regression model incorporating all the above variables was fitted. A total of 65.2% of the participants were unaware of the term THS before the study began. In the bivariate analysis, an association was found between prior knowledge of the term THS and continent of birth (p-value = 0.030) and occupation (p-value = 0.014). In the multivariable logistic regression model, a significant association was observed between prior knowledge of the concept THS and sex (p-value = 0.005), continent of birth (p-value = 0.012), and occupation (p-value = 0.001). Almost two out of three health care professionals who participated in our study did not know what THS was. Educational activities on this topic should be implemented.

Thirdhand Smoke Exposure Ignored by Pediatricians: A Cross-sectional Study

“… 17 In another study in which 233 healthcare professionals’ knowledge of THS was measured, similarly, the rate of participants who had heard the definition of THS before was reported as 34.8%. 18 In our study, only 24.7% of the participants stated that they had heard the definition of THS before.…”

The Invisible Danger: Third-hand Smoke and Families’ Knowledge Levels

“…Parents who are advised to quit smoking or to make their homes or cars smoke-free by a pediatrician are more likely to believe that THS is deleterious to their children's health (27). However, the level of awareness of the term THS among health workers in a study from Spain was only 34.8%, showing that awareness also needs to be raised among clinicians (28).…”

Third-hand Smoke Perception and Awareness among Medical Students: A Survey Study

“…The knowledge levels of healthcare professionals have to be higher than the society and, in a study, conducted by Darlow et al, health professionals thought that smoking affected the quality of parenting and said that they did not smoke at home [14]. However, in a multinational study investigating health professionals' knowledge of THS, almost two in three participating health professionals did not know what THS was, and the authors concluded that education should be provided [15]. This shows that there is a need to raise awareness and knowledge levels while they are still at school, which, as our study shows, highlights the need for increased efforts in this direction in the education system.…”