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Clinical InvestigationsAsthmaEnvironmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure During Travel Among Adults With Asthma
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
We used data collected during an ongoing prospective, longitudinal cohort study of adults with asthma recruited from physician practices in Northern California. Details of recruitment have been reported previously.678 In brief, we recruited subjects from a random sample of certified American Board of Medical Specialty internal medicine and pulmonary specialists, internal medicine and allergy/immunology specialists, and family practice specialists. The present study eligibility is based on
Results
The average age (mean ± SD) of the 374 nonsmoking adults with asthma was 44 ± 7.7 years. Subjects included 264 women (71%) and 105 people of nonwhite race/ethnicity (28%). Fewer than one half of subjects indicated past cigarette smoking (n = 120; 32%).
The prevalence of self-reported ETS exposure during travel in the 12 months before interview was substantial (n = 111; 30%; 95% confidence interval, 25 to 35%). Of the people reporting travel-related ETS exposure, 38 subjects (34%) did not live
Discussion
As public smoking becomes more restricted in California, ETS exposure during travel may be a relatively more important source of exposure. Nearly one third of subject reported ETS exposure during travel in the past year. Of these subjects, a substantial proportion indicated no other regular source of ETS exposure (34%).
The health impact of intermittent ETS exposure during travel has not been examined previously. In people with asthma, who may comprise a vulnerable group, travel-related ETS
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Supported by National Institutes of Health grants K23 HL04201 (Dr. Eisner) and RO1 HL56438 (Dr. Blanc).