Second-hand smoking and severe vision impairment among US adults aged 40 and older

Objectives: To examine the relationship between second-hand smoking, severe vision impairment, and age-related eye diseases (ARED) among US adults

Methods: We analyzed a sample of 25,377 participants aged 40 and older in 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Second-hand smoking was identified from the questions, “On how many of the past 7 days, did someone smoke in your indoor workplace while you were there?” and “On how many of the past 7 days, did anyone smoke in your home while you were there?” Severe vision impairment and ARED was identified by participants' self-report. Stata 11 (College Park, TX) survey procedures were used for complex survey design. Results were considered significant if p<0.05.

Results: Approximately 6.32% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 5.65%-6.98%) of U.S. non-smoking adults aged 40 and older reported second-hand smoking at home and 6.99% (95% CI: 6.02%-7.95%) reported second-hand smoking at work. Severe vision impairment was significantly associated with second-hand smoking at home (odds ratio [OR]=1.93, 95%CI 1.17,3.17) after controlling for other covariates, but was not associated with second-hand smoking at work (OR=1.49, 95%CI 0.64, 3.46). However, no statistically significant associations were found between second-hand smoking and self-reported age-related macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, or glaucoma.

Conclusions: We found significant association between second-hand smoking and severe vision impairment among U.S. adults. Public health policy is needed to fully protect non-smokers from exposure to passive smoking, especially among vulnerable population to prevent them from tobacco-caused diseases and addiction.