Chinese Pediatrician Attitudes and Practices Regarding Child Exposure to Secondhand Smoke (SHS) and Clinical Efforts against SHS Exposure

Kaiyong Huang, Abu S. Abdullah, Haiying Huo, Jing Liao, Li Yang, Zhiyong Zhang, Hailian Chen, Guangmin Nong and Jonathan P. Winickoff
Additional contact information
Kaiyong Huang: School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
Abu S. Abdullah: Global Health Program, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, Jiangsu 215347, China
Haiying Huo: School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
Jing Liao: Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
Li Yang: School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
Zhiyong Zhang: School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
Hailian Chen: School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
Guangmin Nong: Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
Jonathan P. Winickoff: Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Background: Secondhand Smoke (SHS) exposure is a leading cause of childhood illness and premature death. Pediatricians play an important role in helping parents to quit smoking and reducing children’s SHS exposure. This study examined Chinese pediatricians’ attitudes and practices regarding children’s exposure to SHS and clinical efforts against SHS exposure. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of pediatricians was conducted in thirteen conveniently selected hospitals in southern China, during September to December 2013. Five hundred and four pediatricians completed self-administered questionnaires with a response rate of 92%. ? 2 tests were used to compare categorical variables differences between smokers and non-smokers and other categorical variables. Results: Pediatricians thought that the key barriers to encouraging parents to quit smoking were: lack of professional training (94%), lack of time (84%), resistance to discussions about smoking (77%). 94% of the pediatricians agreed that smoking in enclosed public places should be prohibited and more than 70% agreed that smoking should not be allowed in any indoor places and in cars. Most of the pediatricians thought that their current knowledge on helping people to quit smoking and SHS exposure reduction counseling was insufficient. Conclusions: Many Chinese pediatricians did not have adequate knowledge about smoking and SHS, and many lacked confidence about giving cessation or SHS exposure reduction counseling to smoking parents. Lack of professional training and time were the most important barriers to help parents quit smoking among the Chinese pediatricians. Intensified efforts are called for to provide the necessary professional training and increase pediatricians’ participation in the training.

Keywords: pediatrician; secondhand smoke; exposure; smoking cessation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/5/5013/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/5/5013/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:5:p:5013-5025:d:49368

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().