Reducing Second-hand Smoke Exposure Among Young Children in Rural China

Plain-language summary

Second-hand smoking (SHS) is a health hazard to infants and children, in whom it is associated with lower respiratory tract infections, wheezing, cough, middle ear infections and sudden infant death syndrome. The high prevalence of smoking in adults in China, 52.9% among men, 2.4% among women, results in many children being exposed to SHS at home. Data on the effectiveness of evidence-based smoking hygiene intervention to reduce SHS exposure among young children (e.g., aged 5 or below) is lacking in China. Children in the rural setting are more exposed to SHS due to the lack of tobacco control policy initiative in the rural setting and the high prevalence of smoking among the rural public. In the proposed project we aim to examine the effectiveness of a protection motivation theory-based smoking hygiene intervention (SHI), delivered by community health worker (CHW) in 6 different contacts, to reduce SHS exposure among young children in two rural areas of China: Taizhou city (Zhejiang Province) and Dali city (Yunnan province). The results of this study will provide clinical evidence for the development of CHW-delivered interventions designed to reduce exposure to SHS and related morbidity and mortality among children in rural China. The successful results could also be used to draft guidelines for health promotion interventions, which could be implemented as a policy for all primary health care settings in rural China and other developing countries.

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