Is maternal smoking more determinant than paternal smoking on the respiratory symptoms of young children?

BACKGROUND

It is generally accepted that maternal smoking has more detrimental effects than paternal smoking on the respiratory health of children. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of postnatal exposure due to the smoking behaviour by father and mother in the home, and prenatal exposure from maternal smoking during pregnancy, on the respiratory symptoms in children.

METHODS

The parents of 484 children, aged 3-6 years, completed a questionnaire about smoking and respiratory symptoms in children. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associated factors with respiratory symptoms.

RESULTS

The final model of logistic regression analysis showed that prenatal exposure by maternal smoking during pregnancy increased the risk of wheezing with colds (adjusted OR=2.00, 95% CI:1.13-3.55) with respect to those children whose mothers reported no smoking during pregnancy. Postnatal exposure by maternal smoking in the home, in the presence of the child, increased the risk of cough with phlegm (adjusted OR=2.79, 95% CI:1.23-6.30) with respect to those children whose mothers did not smoke in their presence. Paternal smoking was associated with wheezing and cough in the bivariate analysis, but did not remain significant in the multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results underline a greater influence of exposure to maternal smoking (prenatal and postnatal) than postnatal paternal smoking on the development of respiratory symptoms in young children.