Secondhand Smoke-Related Mortality Has Improved Since 1990
In a recent study, researchers investigated rates of secondhand smoke (SHS)-related deaths in the United States over a 26-year period.
Although the World Health Organization has estimated that as many as 880,000 SHS-related deaths occur each year, “a better understanding of the scale of harm of SHS to those who do not smoke could increase awareness of the consequences of smoking and help to design measures to protect individuals who do not smoke, especially children,” the researchers explained.
They used data from Our World in Data, a database comprised of a combination of existing data sets and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in order to calculate the number of individuals needed to smoke over a period of time to be associated with the death of 1 individual due to SHS exposure.
Overall, the researchers found that the SHS index (the number of individuals who smoked for 24 years associated with the death of 1 non-smoking individual) increased favorably from 31.3 to 52.3 from 1990 to 2016. However, a wide regional variation was observed in the 2016 SHS index, ranging from 42.6 in the Middle East and North Africa to 85.7 in North America.
They also observed improvements in the pack-year index (the number of pack-years associated with the death of 1 individual who did not smoke), which increased from 751.9 pack-years to 1255.9 pack years from 1990 to 2016.
“This information may help local policy makers implement measures to better protect those who do not smoke and increase public engagement. Although the number of pack-years and the number of individuals who smoke associated with the death of 1 individual who did not smoke favorably changed over the study period, as of 2016, 52.3 individuals who smoked were associated with the death of 1 individual who did not smoke,” the authors concluded.
—Michael Potts
Reference:
Yousuf H, Hofstra M, Tijssen J, et al. Estimated worldwide mortality attributed to secondhand tobacco smoke exposure, 1990-2016. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3):e201177. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.1177