ABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze the household smoking behavior of smokers in rural Taizhou City of Zhejiang Province, and to provide the basis for the intervention measures to reduce children's second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure. Methods:The investigation started in May 2018. A total of 418 smoking families in Luqiao and Linhai were included. Field face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted and cotinine level in children's urine was measured. Kernel density estimation was used for curve fitting. The results were analyzed by Wilcoxon rank sum test and chi square test. Results:The age distribution of smokers in the family was bimodal. The younger smoker group was mainly the parents. The older group was mainly the other relatives such as grandfather. The age started smoking in the parent group was younger than that in relative group, but the average number of cigarettes smoked per day in relative group was higher than that in parent group (P<0.05). The parent group had higher proportion than the relative group in having family smoking regulations or agreeing not to smoke in the room in the presence of children (P<0.001).The proportion of the parent group who has heard about third hand smoke and electronic cigarette was higher than that of the relative group (P<0.001).The detection rates of cotinine in urine of children were 91.05% and 86.96% in parent group and relative group, respectively. The urine cotinine level of the children in the parent group was higher than that in the grandfather group (P=0.049). Conclusion:Children are more exposed to SHS when the smoker in the household are parents. In order to reduce children's SHS exposure, we should pay more attention to educate the parents with a family based tobacco control program.