Increased Risk for COPD After Secondhand Smoke Exposure

Both children and adults exposed to secondhand smoke have a higher risk of death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adulthood, according to a study by American Cancer Society epidemiologists published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Researchers investigated associations of secondhand smoke exposure with adult death from all causes, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and COPD in 70,900 lifelong nonsmokers from the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort in 1992 and 1993. At the study’s start, participants—who were mainly between ages 50 and 74—answered questions about their exposure to secondary smoke currently and during childhood. Researchers followed participants for 22 years.

People who reported living with a smoker during childhood had 31% higher COPD mortality compared with participants without daily smoke exposure during childhood, according to the study. This suggests rates of nonfatal COPD, too, are higher among adults who lived with smokers during childhood, researchers pointed out.

In adults exposed to secondhand smoke at least 10 hours per week at the study’s start, researchers identified a 42% increased risk of death from COPD, a 27% increased risk of death from ischemic heart disease, a 23% increased risk of death from stroke, and a 9% increased risk of all-cause mortality.

“This is the first study to identify an association between childhood exposure to secondhand smoke and death from COPD in middle age and beyond,” said lead researcher W. Ryan Diver, MSPH. “The results also suggest that adult secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of COPD death. Overall, our findings provide further evidence for reducing secondhand smoke exposure throughout life.”

—Jolynn Tumolo

For more articles like this, visit the COPD Resource Center

For articles by IH Executive, click here

For articles by First Report Managed Care, click here