Prevalence, knowledge and education level associated with secondhand smoke exposure among never-smoking women in Inner Mongolia, Northern China

INTRODUCTION: Currently, 40.7% of women in China are exposed daily to secondhand smoke (SHS); however, research on SHS exposure among women in Inner Mongolia is limited. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of SHS exposure, knowledge about the harms of smoking and SHS, and the association between sociodemographic factors and SHS exposure among never-smoking women in Inner Mongolia, Northern China. METHODS: This study was based on a survey of chronic disease and nutrition conducted among Chinese adults in Inner Mongolia during 2015, a cross-sectional study with multi-stage stratified cluster sampling. A total 2293 never-smoking women aged ≥18 years were included in the study. Face-to-face interviews were used to collect data of sociodemographic characteristics, SHS exposure, and related knowledge. Questionnaires were administered by trained investigators, and the reliability and validity of the questionnaires were high. We performed descriptive analysis and logistic regression. All analyses were performed by IBM SPSS Statistics version 19.0. RESULTS: Of the total, 69% of young women in Inner Mongolia in 2015 reported that they were exposed to SHS, the highest rate in comparison with older and middle-aged women. A total 49.90% of young women reported being exposed to SHS every day. Respondents had insufficient knowledge regarding smoking and SHS exposure. Compared with older never-smoking women, their young counterparts had a higher risk of SHS exposure, with an odds ratio of 2.143 (95% CI: 1.647–2.787). Education level and ethnicity were also significantly associated with SHS exposure. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the highest rates of SHS exposure were among young never-smoking women in Inner Mongolia, and women with high education levels were less likely to be exposed to SHS. Improved public health information is needed that prioritizes SHS exposure among young women in Inner Mongolia. Health education regarding SHS exposure should be widely implemented throughout communities in this region.