It's Worse to Breathe It Than to Smoke It": Secondhand Smoke Beliefs in a Group of Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States.

Thomas A Arcury, Grisel Trejo, DaKysha Moore, Timothy D Howard, Sara A Quandt, Edward H Ip, Joanne C Sandberg

International journal of environmental research and public health 2020 Nov 20

filter terms:

This analysis describes beliefs about secondhand smoke and its health effects held by Mexican and Central American immigrants in North Carolina. Data from 60 semistructured, in-depth interviews were subjected to saliency analysis. Participant discussions of secondhand smoke centered on four domains: (1) familiarity and definition of secondhand smoke, (2) potency of secondhand smoke, (3) general health effects of secondhand smoke, and (4) child health effects of secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke was generally believed to be more harmful than primary smoke. Mechanisms for the potency and health effects of secondhand smoke involved the smell of secondhand smoke, secondhand smoke being an infection and affecting the immune system, and personal strength being protective of secondhand smoke. Understanding these health beliefs informs a framework for further health education and intervention to reduce smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in this vulnerable population.

Citation

Thomas A Arcury, Grisel Trejo, DaKysha Moore, Timothy D Howard, Sara A Quandt, Edward H Ip, Joanne C Sandberg. It's Worse to Breathe It Than to Smoke It": Secondhand Smoke Beliefs in a Group of Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2020 Nov 20;17(22)