Secondhand Smoke Linked to Psychiatric Illness

Updated: June 18th, 2010 | We Wanna Hear from You

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) can lead to psychological distress and an increased risk for future psychiatric hospitalization in healthy, nonsmoking adults, according to a new longitudinal study drawn from the Scottish Health Surveys.

These findings “emphasize the importance of reducing SHS exposure at a population level not only for physical health but for mental health,” write lead author Mark Hamer, PhD, associate professor of social epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London, England, and colleagues.

“People [in our study] with the highest SHS exposure reported being exposed in their home,” Dr. Hamer told Medscape Psychiatry. “Therefore, the highest risks are likely to be in people living with a smoker.”

He noted that previous studies in this area have used self-report measures, which can often be unreliable. “Our study employed objective measures using salivary cotinine. Also, [whereas] previous studies have been cross-sectional, we demonstrate some longitudinal associations, which strengthen our findings.”

The study was published online June 7 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Reprinted from Medscape. For the complete article, click here.