Subject(s)
Health Promotion/organization & administration , Obesity/epidemiology , Obesity/prevention & control , Primary Prevention/organization & administration , Adolescent , Adolescent Health Services/organization & administration , Australia/epidemiology , Child , Child Health Services/organization & administration , Child Welfare/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Overweight/epidemiology , Overweight/prevention & control , Public Health PracticeABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between smoke-free policies, exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) at work, and self-reported respiratory and sensory symptoms of workers. METHOD: Ninety-one nonsmoking workers recruited from three workplaces with varying smoking policies completed a telephone-administered questionnaire and provided saliva samples (before and after usual work shift) for cotinine analysis. RESULTS: Mean before-after shift saliva cotinine per hour worked was significantly higher among club (0.42 ng/mL/hr worked) than casino workers (0.18 ng/mL/hr worked) (P < 0.001), club than office workers (0.03 ng/mL/hr worked) (P < 0.001), and casino than office workers (P < 0.001). Casino and club workers reported similar levels of respiratory morbidity and were more likely to have sore eyes (odds ratio [OR] = 5.5, P < 0.01) and a sore throat (OR = 4.3, P < 0.05) compared with office employees. CONCLUSION: Air-conditioning interventions reduce, but fail to eliminate, exposure of hospitality workers to SHS. Such exposure is associated with measurable increases in the risk of respiratory symptoms.
Subject(s)
Lung Diseases/etiology , Occupational Exposure/adverse effects , Tobacco Smoke Pollution/adverse effects , Adult , Confidence Intervals , Female , Humans , Male , Occupations , Prevalence , Surveys and Questionnaires , Victoria/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This research estimates the prevalence of alcohol use among Australian secondary students in 1996 and examines trends in alcohol prevalence over a 12-year period. A national randomly selected representative sample of 434 secondary schools participated in the 1996 study. Eghty students were selected randomly from each school and completed a questionnaire anonymously. Current drinking (drinking alcohol in the week before the survey) increased with age from 17% of boys and 10% of girls aged 12 to 56% of boys and 50% of girls aged 17. Comparisons with data collected by similar surveys in 1984, 1987, 1990 and 1993 showed that while fewer 12-15-year-olds were current drinkers in 1996 than in 1984 or 1987, the 1996 proportion was no different from the 1993 proportion. In 1996, there were more hazardous drinkers among male current drinkers aged 12-15 than in any other survey period. Among 16-and 17-year-olds, there were more current drinkers in 1996 than in 1993 or 1990, and more male and female current drinkers were drinking at hazardous levels in 1996 than in 1987 and 1990. Extrapolating from the 1996 findings, nearly 424000 students aged 12-17 years were current drinkers.
