It is well established that environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a threat to the health of nonsmokers, particularly children. Current estimates suggest that Latino children are regularly exposed to ETS, probably in part due to conditions associated with being low-income. Many studies of ETS exposure among children rely on parent questionnaire measures that probably underestimate the exposure. Among Latinos, there is some evidence of a tendency to underreport or report inaccurately health behaviors that are socially undesirable or sensitive, including ETS exposure. There is a need for biochemical indicators that can provide accurate data on ETS exposure among Latino children, and that can validate parents' subjective reports of such exposure. While saliva and urine cotinine often serve as good biological measures, the intrusive nature of collecting these calls into question their acceptability within the Latino culture. Recently, hair analysis has become increasingly popular as a relatively non-intrusive health research tool to study ETS exposure, although the acceptability and ease of collection within Latino families is not known. Further, in this population, the correlation between parent reports and children's exposure based on hair analysis has not been studied. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, the acceptability/feasibility of collecting hair from 140 Latino children to assess ETS exposure will be assessed. Second, the agreement between Latino parent-reported exposure and their children's hair cotinine and nicotine will be presented.
Learning Objectives: After reviewing the poster, the participant will be able to: 1) Identify feasibility issues regarding collecting hair samples from young Latino children; 2)Describe the agreement between parent reports of ETS exposure and children's hair cotinine and nicotine.
Keywords: Tobacco Control, Latinos
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.