Abstract
BackgroundThe relationship between tobacco smoking, including secondhand smoking, and depression has been assessed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between secondhand smoking among current, former and never smokers and depressive symptoms. For secondhand smoking, gender differences and sources of exposure were examined.MethodsData from 34,693 participants from the fourth and fifth Korean Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2007–2012) were analyzed in 2014. Self-reported exposure to active (current, former or never) and secondhand smoking and depressive symptoms experienced during the past year were analyzed using logistic regression. The dose–response relationship between duration of secondhand smoke exposure and depression was assessed with stratification by gender and sources of exposure (at home only, at the workplace only or both).ResultsRegardless of their smoking status, all women who had secondhand smoke exposure at home reported more depressive symptoms than non-smoking women without any exposure to secondhand cigarette smoking (OR 1.43, 95 % CI 1.04–1.96 for current smokers; OR 2.32, 95 % CI 1.04–5.16 for former smokers; OR 1.25, 95 % CI 1.08–1.43 for never smokers). There was also a significant dose–response pattern (p-trend <0.001) for the duration of secondhand smoke exposure at home among women. No significant association was found between smoking and depressive symptoms in men.ConclusionsThere was a significant association between secondhand smoke exposure at home and depressive symptoms in women. Secondhand smoke exposure at home was associated with depressive symptoms in a dose–response manner.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2402-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The relationship between tobacco smoking, including secondhand smoking, and depression has been assessed
In 2011, approximately 55.2 % of men and 37.2 % of women who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (KNHANES) reported that they were exposed to indoor workplace secondhand smoke (SHS), whereas 16.7 % of men and 4.9 % of women were exposed to SHS at home [9]
Current smokers were slightly older than those who had never smoked (14.4 % compared to 13.5 % were aged ≥60 years), but among the women, current smokers were younger than those who had never smoked (57.5 % compared to 36.6 % were aged 19–39 years)
Summary
The relationship between tobacco smoking, including secondhand smoking, and depression has been assessed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between secondhand smoking among current, former and never smokers and depressive symptoms. Gender differences and sources of exposure were examined. Smoking tobacco is well known to be harmful to overall health and is a major cause of death and disease. In Korea, 30.8 % and 5.7 % of deaths among men and women, respectively, have been attributed to active smoking [1]. Jung et al BMC Public Health (2015) 15:1053 hospitals, schools, auditoria, gymnasia and public transportation. These policies successfully led to a decrease in the prevalence of smoking among men (46.7 % in 2007 and 44.9 % in 2010) [7]. Studies have shown inconsistent results concerning the potential factors associated with SHS exposure [11, 12]
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