Effects of Smoking on the Prevalence of Allergic Disorders in Russian Adolescents: A Retrospective Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction Smoking is one of the leading causes of death. Smoking also decreases lung efficiency and impairs lung function in children of all ages. Second-hand tobacco smoking increases both the frequency and severity of childhood asthma. However, the role of active tobacco smoking in the manifestation of asthma remains inconclusive. The aim of this article was to describe the current understanding of the prevalence and adverse effects of cigarette smoking and to determine whether there is an association between smoking and the manifestation and progression of asthma among adolescents and high school students in Russia. Objectives This study aimed to determine the true prevalence of bronchial asthma (BA), allergic rhinitis (AR), and atopic dermatitis (AD) in the population of adolescents in the Russian Federation. In the GA(2)LEN (Global Allergy and Asthma European Network) study, we analyzed participant responses to confirm a connection between smoking and asthma exacerbation or development. This study examined the association between parental smoking and childhood atopic disorders. We sought to determine the effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and childhood cigarette smoking on asthma symptoms among high school and college students in Moscow, Russia. We analyzed the reactions to the present tobacco control policy and evaluated the significance of the success of the policy. A number of methods were used, including questionnaires, surveys, and statistical analysis software. Results Our research indicates a moderate decrease in smoking prevalence among Russian teenagers. From the data and results of our study, 25.3% of the respondents said that they have ever smoked for as long as a year. Among the participants who had ever smoked, most of them started smoking at the age of 16 years while the state-reported average age for a new smoker is 11.4. Fifty percent of the respondents who had shortness of breath had been woken by an attack once a week in the last three months. Only 21.1% of the people with asthma were taking medicines for it. According to our calculations, there is no significant association between smoking status and the prevalence of asthma, hay fever, and sinusitis. More respondents (34.2%) had fathers who regularly smoked during their childhood than mothers who regularly smoked during their childhood or before the children were born (7.9%). There is a statistically significant association between a mother smoking during childhood or before the birth of a child and that child being hospitalized before the age of two years for lung disease. Conclusion The fact that the smoking rates among study participants are relatively low is quite encouraging and anti-smoking campaigns should be intensified to drive the rates lower. The data analyzed do not provide sufficient evidence to show that there is any causative association between smoking status and the development of asthma, hay fever, or sinusitis. Since there is no clear association between smoking status and the development of asthma, hay fever, or allergic sinusitis, it is imperative to say that smoking cessation will have very little effect on allergy prevalence as per the data analyzed. From the conducted analysis, it is evident that there is a clear link between second-hand smoke and asthma in children. According to our results, children whose mothers smoked are especially vulnerable to asthma and other respiratory disorders.