Comparison of clinic visits among children of smoking and non-smoking families

Complications of cigarette smoking are of the major obstacles of a society. Both active and passive smoking cause various forms of diseases in men, women and children. Since almost one third of the world's population are children under 14 years of age, preventing the unwanted health consequences of involuntary smoking can help in improvement of health as well as the health level of the society. In cooperation with the "Iran Statistics Center" and by using PPS method a number of families required for the study were selected among 22 districts of Tehran. After obtaining a consent, a questionnaire was filled out by a physician through interviewing the families randomly. In this study, 214 families were questioned out of which 129 had at least one smoker member in their family [60.2%]. A total number of 825 individuals were studied [including 270 men, 281 women and 274 children under the age of 14], out of which 87 men [32.2%], 42 women [14.9%] and overall 129 subjects [23.4% of the population over the age of 14 and 15.6% of the general population] were smokers. The mean number of visits to the physician by the children of all families was 3.7 +/- 1.8 per year. This number was 2 +/- 0.9 and 4.7 +/- 1.56 in the non-smoking and smoking families respectively [p=0.000]. Mean exhaled CO level of a non-smoker or passive smoker of a smoking family was 20.2 +/- 5.8; whereas this rate was 6.6 +/- 3.5 in a non-smoker member of a non- smoking family [p=0.000]. Comparison of the number of visits does not significantly indicate the disease-inducing role of passive smoking but only that these visits are more in families that smoke

Daily expenditure on cigarette smoking in Tehran

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide. Since the price and expense of tobacco products are important factors relating to smoking and tobacco control, it is necessary to calculate the expense of daily smoking in order to enforce tobacco control programs. This study was done to assess the expense of daily smoking among smokers in Tehran. A cross-sectional study was done among a random population sample of 3026 smokers in different areas of Tehran. Data collection was done via WHO and IUATLD [International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease] questionnaires by questioning health-care workers. Finally data were analyzed by Chi-Square, Fischer's exact and logistic regression tests. Among 3026 participants, 2413 [80.9%] persons were male. The mean age of the population was 40 +/- 12.7 years. 49.2% of the population [1439 persons] had below diploma degrees and the maximum frequency distribution of occupation belonged to employees [36.7%]. The mean age of initiation of smoking was 21 +/- 8.19 yrs. and the mean number of cigarettes smoked daily was 16.81 +/- 10.61 cigarettes. 41.8% of population [1192 persons] had daily smoking expense of 2,510 to 4,500 Rials[*]. The mean was 4,680 +/- 388.78 Rials. In evaluation of daily smoking expense according to gender, over 6,500 Rials daily expenditure was more frequent among men [20.1%] in comparison with women [13.5%] [P=0.000]. Persons with daily income of less than 50,000 Rials, spent 9.3% of it for smoking. Because of the low price of cigarette in Iran, there is huge expenditure on smoking. Therefore, it is recommended to pay special attention to economical strategies in tobacco control programs and to coordinate with WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC]