Gender Differences in Factors Associated with Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Cancer Patients

Eun-Kyung Kim; Jina Choo; Eun-Sook Choi

doi:10.15384/kjhp.2015.15.4.225

Korean J Health Promot > Volume 15(4); 2015 > Article

Kim, Choo, and Choi: Gender Differences in Factors Associated with Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Cancer Patients

Original Article

Korean Journal of Health Promotion 2015;15(4):225-234.

Published online: December 19, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15384/kjhp.2015.15.4.225

Gender Differences in Factors Associated with Secondhand Smoke Exposure among Cancer Patients

Eun-Kyung Kim¹, Jina Choo², Eun-Sook Choi³

¹Department of Nursing, Suwon Science College, Hwaseong, Korea

²College of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul, Korea

³Department of Nursing, The National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea

￭ Corresponding author：Jina Choo, PhD, DrPH College of Nursing, Korea University, 73 Inchon-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Tel: +82-2-3290-4925, Fax: +82-2-928-9107 Email: jinachoo@korea.ac.kr

Received February 24, 2015 Accepted August 09, 2015

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

Background

There is little evidence on the prevalence of secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among cancer patients. We aimed to investigate its prevalence, and to identify gender differences in factors associated with SHS exposure among cancer patients.

Methods

Participants were 304 patients who have been treated via either inpatient or outpatient clinics in the National Cancer Center. SHS exposure was defined as an individual’s experience of SHS exposure during the past month. Gender-stratified analysis was performed by using a logistic regression analysis with potential covariates.

Results

SHS exposure was prevalent in 69.5% of the total participants, specifically in 57.1% of men and 62.7% of women; however, it did not differ significantly by gender. The prevalence of SHS exposure at home was significantly greater in women (20.7%) than in men (4.4%) (P＝0.048). Among men, age ≤50 years (Adjusted odds ratio [OR]＝3.11; confidence interval [CI]＝1.05-9.24), employed status (Adjusted OR＝3.15; CI＝1.38-7.19), and having family smokers (Adjusted OR＝0.32; CI＝0.12-0.82) were significantly associated with SHS exposure. Among women, employment status (Adjusted OR＝2.67; CI＝1.40-5.10), good self-rated health (Adjusted OR＝2.35; CI＝1.20-4.61), and having family smokers (Adjusted OR＝2.03; CI＝1.05-3.91) were significantly associated with SHS exposure.

Conclusions

Cancer patients were exposed to SHS by 69.5% during the past month. Among cancer patients, factors associated with SHS exposure differed by gender. Therefore, gender-specific strategies for preventing SHS exposure are needed for cancer patients.

Keywords: Secondhand smoke, Cancer, Gender

Table 1.

Sociodemographic, health- and smoking-related factors^a (N＝304)

Characteristics	Total (N＝304)	Male (n＝119)	Female (n＝185)	χ²	P^b
Sociodemographic factors Age, year
≤50	120 (39.5)	29 (24.4)	91 (49.2)	18.67	＜0.001
≥51	184 (60.5)	90 (75.6)	94 (50.8)
Mean±SD	53.6±12.6	57.4±13.7	51.1±11.2
Education
＜College	73 (24.0)	30 (25.2)	43 (23.2)	0.15	0.783
≥ College	231 (76.0)	89 (74.8)	142 (76.8)
Employed
Yes	167 (54.9)	58 (48.7)	109 (58.9)	3.03	0.098
No	137 (45.1)	61 (51.3)	76 (41.1)
Health-related factors Cancer of origin
Stomach	68 (22.4)	47 (39.5)	21 (11.4)	142.06	＜0.001
Colorectal	36 (11.8)	17 (14.3)	19 (10.2)
Genital	85 (28.0)	1 (0.8)	84 (45.4)
Respiratory	58 (19.1)	31 (26.1)	27 (14.6)
Hematologic	18 (5.9)	10 (8.4)	8 (4.3)
Others	39 (12.8)	13 (10.9)	26 (14.1)
Cancer treatmentc
Chemotherapy	201 (66.1)	81 (68.1)	120 (64.9)	0.33	0.620
Radiation	59 (19.4)	24 (20.2)	35 (18.9)
Surgery	169 (55.6)	57 (47.9)	112 (60.5)
Treatment duration, month	21.9±29.4	21.6±30.1	22.1±29.0
≥13	124 (40.8)	50 (42.0)	74 (40.0)	0.08	0.811
≤12	176 (57.9)	68 (57.1)	108 (58.4)
Missing	4 (1.3)	1 (0.8)	3 (1.6)
Treatment clinics
Outpatient	198 (65.1)	69 (58.0)	129 (69.7)	4.40	0.058
Inpatient	106 (34.9)	50 (42.0)	56 (30.3)
Self-rated health
Good	148 (48.7)	55 (46.2)	93 (50.3)	0.47	0.557
Bad	156 (51.3)	64 (53.8)	92 (49.7)
Smoking-related factors Smoking status
Current smoking	9 (3.0)	9 (7.5)		138.13	＜0.001
Mean±SD
Amount, pieces/d	19.4±19.4	19.4±19.4
Duration, y	22.1±10.3	22.1±10.3
Former-smoking	93 (30.6)	78 (65.5)	15 (8.1)
Mean±SD
Amount, pieces/d	20.6±12.9	21.5±12.7	15.4±13.2
Smoking duration, y	22.8±13.6	24.2±13.7	14.8±10.7
Ex-smoking duration, y	7.6±10.3	8.4±11.0	3.3±3.5
Non-smoking	202 (66.4)	32 (26.9)	170 (91.9)
SHS-related factors Having family smokers
Yes	116 (38.2)	31 (26.1)	85 (45.9)	12.14	0.001
No	188 (61.8)	88 (73.9)	100 (54.1)
Message about SHS
Yes	293 (96.4)	113 (95.0)	180 (97.3)	1.13	0.350
No	11 (3.6)	6 (5.0)	5 (2.7)
Message sources about SHS^c
TV	268 (88.2)	101 (84.9)	167 (90.3)
Radio	51 (16.8)	24 (20.2)	27 (14.6)
Internet	103 (33.9)	38 (31.9)	65 (35.1)
Newspaper/Magazine	116 (38.2)	45 (37.8)	71 (38.4)
Signboard	98 (32.2)	31 (26.1)	67 (36.2)
Health education	16 (5.3)	4 (3.4)	12 (6.5)
Anti-SHS education by healthcare professionals
Yes	89 (29.3)	49 (41.2)	40 (21.6)	13.37	＜0.001
No	215 (70.7)	70 (58.8)	145 (78.4)

Abbreviations: SHS＝secondhand smoke; SD, standard deviation.

^aValues are presented as n (%) unless otherwise indicated.

^bCalculated by chi-square test.

^cMultiple responses allowed.

Table 2.

Prevalence of SHS exposure by gender^a (N＝304)

Characteristics	Total (n＝304)	Male (n＝119)	Female (n＝185)	χ²/t	P^b
Exposure to SHS
Yes	184 (69.5)	68 (57.1)	116 (62.7)	0.93	0.339
No	120 (39.5)	51 (42.9)	69 (37.3)
Weekly frequency of SHS exposure
Mean±SD	4.0±4.1	4.4±6.1	3.8±2.2	0.95	0.340
Places of SHS exposure^c
Outside of public place	128 (69.5)	43 (63.3)	83 (71.5)	69.07	0.048
Inside of public place	54 (29.3)	31 (45.6)	23 (19.8)
Home	27 (14.6)	3 (4.4)	24 (20.7)

Abbreviations: SHS, secondhand smoke; SD, standard deviation.

^aValues are presented as n (%) unless otherwise indicated.

^bCalculated by chi-square test.

^cMultiple responses allowed.

Table 3.

SHS Exposure by general characteristics^a (N＝304)

Characteristics	SHS Exposure
	Male (n＝119)		Female (n＝185)
	Total		Total
Age, year
≤ 50	29	23 (79.3)^c	91	56 (61.5)
≥ 51	90	45 (50.0)	94	60 (63.8)
Education
≥ College	89	54 (60.7)	142	91 (64.1)
＜College	30	14 (46.7)	43	25 (58.1)
Employed
Yes	58	42 (72.4)^c	109	79 (72.5)^c
No	61	26 (42.6)	76	37 (48.7)
Self-rated health Good	55	33 (60.0)	93	68 (73.1)^c
Bad	64	35 (54.7)	92	48 (52.2)
Treatment duration, month
≥ 13	50	33 (66.0)	74	56 (75.7)
≤ 12	68	35 (51.5)	108	57 (52.8)
Treatment clinic
Outpatient	69	42 (60.9)	129	88 (68.2)^b
Inpatient	50	26 (52.0)	56	28 (50.0)
Smoking status Current/former	87	55 (63.2)^b	15	11 (73.3)
Non Family member’s smoker	32	13 (40.6)	170	105 (61.8)
Yes	31	11 (35.5)	85	60 (70.6)^b
No	88	57 (64.8)	100	56 (56.0)
SHS message
Yes	113	66 (58.4)	180	114 (63.3)
No	6	2 (33.3)	5	2 (40.0)
Anti-SHS education from healthcare teams
Yes	49	30 (61.2)	40	21 (52.5)
No	70	38 (54.3)	145	95 (65.5)

Abbreviation: SHS, secondhand smoke.

^aValues are presented as n (%).

^bP＜0.05 calculated by chi-square test.

^cP＜0.01 calculated by chi-square test.

Table 4.

Factors associated with SHS exposure by gender^a (N＝304)

Variables	SHS exposure
Variables	Male (n＝119)	Female (n＝185)
Age, y
≤50	3.11 (1.05-9.24)	-
≥51	1.00
Employed
Yes	3.15 (1.38-7.19)	2.67 (1.40-5.10)
No	1.00	1.00
Self-rated health
Good	-	2.35 (1.20-4.61)
Bad		1.00
Treatment clinics
Outpatient	1.60 (0.69-3.72)	1.74 (0.87-3.46)
Inpatient	1.00	1.00
Smoking status
Current/former	2.51 (0.98-6.43)	-
Non-smoking	1.00
Having family smokers
Yes	0.32 (0.12-0.82)	2.03 (1.05-3.91)
No	1.00	1.00
Anti-SHS education from healthcare teams
Yes	-	0.60 (0.37-1.78)
No		1.00

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio; SHS, secondhand smoke.

^aValues are presented as adjusted OR (95% CI) calculated by the logistic regression analysis.

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