Smoking hygiene: a study attitudes to passive smoking

Aim. To study the attitudes and knowledge of adults in the Wellington area about the effects of passive smoking and measures to reduce exposure to smo ke. Methods. A sample of 200 people, randomly selected in the Wellington area, answered a telephone survey on passive smoking. Results. Of the 200 respondents, 160 (80%) were males, 40 (20%) were female s and approximately one-third (30%) were smokers. Most people (85.5%) thoug ht public and private areas should be: smoke-free when. there were children around, but only half (53.5%) thought that smoking should be banned in car s when there are passengers. Most people (92.5%) correctly defined passive smoking. Half were aware that passive smoking negatively contributed to all the following diseases (asthma, cancer, heart disease, respiratory problem s) and cot death but a higher percentage identified cancer (75.5%) and cot deaths (68.5%) specifically most smokers reported that they smoke at home o r in their cars rather than in public places. Half the smokers (50.9%) did not smoke in front of children; a further 17.3% reported that they smoked l ess. Conclusions. In this sample there was a relatively low level of awareness o f the effects of passive smoking on health and a high prevalence of smoking in the presence of children. Smokers and non-smokers were almost equally d ivided on whether there should be a law restricting smoking in private cars , although the majority agreed that cars carrying children should be smoke- free. Public health efforts to reduce the harm from passive smoking should be focused on discouraging smoking, in settings in which children are expos ed, including private cars when children are passengers.