Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Hormozgan province Residents’ Southern Iran

Aims: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) implies one’s inevitable inhale of smoke within a polluted environment. The present Study aimed to investigate the extent to which Hormozgan province residents were exposed to ETS. Materials & Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, a sample of 3962 residents of Hormozgan province (Urban-rural) was selected through a stratified clustering method and entered the study. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire developed by the researcher which was comprised of two sections. The first section contained demographic information and also enquired about subject’s exposure to ETS as well as the smoking site. Chi-squared test and binary regression were used. The collected data were analyzed via SPSS 19.0. Findings: 984 subjects (24.8%) were exposed to ETS and women were significantly more exposed to ETS than men (p<0.001). The most probable sites of exposure to ETS were found to be respectively home (52.6%), public places (25.5%) and workplace (21.9%). The highest degree of exposure to ETS was found in Bashagard County (69.6%) while the lowest degree showed to belong to Khamir (14.1%). A statistically significant correlation was found between exposure to ETS and age (p<0.001) and education level (p<.019). Conclusion: Awareness raising towards the hazards of ETS, warning against smoking indoors, monitoring how anti-smoking rules are applied in public places and workplace, the formation of domestic anti-smoking campaigns, informing the youth through mass media especially women and teenagers are all suggested to cut down on exposure to ETS.