OBJECTIVES Smoke-free areas have expanded and related campaigns have been implemented since 1995 in Korea. As a result, household secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure has decreased over the past 15 years. We assessed the cohort effect, the effect of a 2008 campaign on household SHS exposure, and the impact of a complete smoking ban in public places along with increased penalties, as implemented in December 2011.
METHODS
Nationally representative cross-sectional 15-wave survey data of Korean adolescents were used. The 810,516 participants were classified into 6 grade groups, 15 period groups, and 20 middle school admission cohorts. An age-period-cohort analysis, conducted with the intrinsic estimator method, was used to assess the cohort effect of household SHS exposure, and interrupted-time series analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of the smoke-free policy and the campaign.
RESULTS
For cohorts who entered middle school from 2002 to 2008, the risk of household SHS exposure decreased among both boys and girls. Immediately after implementation of the smoke-free policy, the prevalence of household SHS exposure by period decreased significantly for boys (coefficient, -8.96; p<0.05) and non-significantly for girls (coefficient, -6.99; p=0.07). After the campaign, there was a significant decrease in household SHS exposure by cohort among boys, both immediately and post-intervention (coefficient, -4.84; p=0.03; coefficient, -1.22; p=0.02, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS
A school-admission-cohort effect was found on household SHS exposure among adolescents, which was associated with the smoke-free policy and the campaign. Anti-smoking interventions should be implemented consistently and simultaneously.
Summary
Korean summary
지난 15년 동안 한국 청소년의 가정 내 간접흡연 노출은 감소했다. 가정 내 간접흡연 노출에 대하여 중학교 입학 코호트 효과가 존재하였다. 또한, 청소년의 가정 내 간접흡연 노출 감소는 2011년 12월 공공장소에서의 금연구역 규제와 2008년 시행된 캠페인과 연관되어 있었다.
Key Message
Household secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among Korean adolescents has decreased over the past 15 years. There was a school admission cohort effect on household SHS exposure. A complete smoking ban in public space with increased penalties in December 2011 and a campaign in 2008 to avoid SHS exposure were associated with reduced household SHS exposure among adolescents.
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