Relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and emotional disorder among pupils in Shandong province

Objective To examine the association of secondhand smoke(SHS) exposure with emotional disorder among pupils.Methods With multi-stage random cluster sampling, 5 861 pupils and their parents from 13 schools in 3 cities in Shandong province were surveyed with a questionnaire in 2012.Results Of the pupils, 50.5%(2 962) reported exposure to SHS and 16.3%(953) reported emotional disorder symptoms(EDS).The pupils with SHS exposure reported a higher ratio of EDS than those without SHS exposure(18.6%% vs. 13.9%, P<0.05).The reported ratios of EDS were 21.7%, 17.0%, and 16.3% among the pupils with familial SHS exposure of ≥5 days/week, 1-4 day/week, and without the exposure;the reported ratio of EDS was 18.7% among all the pupils with SHS exposure at home and the ratio was higher than among the pupils with SHS exposure in other places.Logistic regression analyses showed that SHS was significantly associated with emotional disorder and the pupils with SHS exposure had a 1.364 higher risk of EDS compared to those without the exposure.Conclusion Secondhand smoke exposure is positively associated with emotional disorder among pupils in Shandong province and specific interventions should be conducted among the parents of the pupils for the prevention of secondhand smoke exposure at home.