Kids with asthma who are living with smokers are doubling their risk of hospitalization, a new study has found.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Children's Center conducted the study to determine a link between the hospitalization rate of kids with asthma and secondhand smoke exposure at home. They reviewed 25 different studies involving more than 430,000 children with an average age of 7.6 years.
The analysis showed that kids who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home are twice more likely to get hospitalized compared to those who don't live with smokers.
Aside from more incidence of hospitalization, kids exposed to secondhand smoke are tripling their risk of poor lungs and increasing their risk of wheezing by 32 percent, Reuters reported.
The researchers recommend for parents to be mindful of their children's health and consider quitting smoking.
"The results of this review serve as a reminder to parents of just how dangerous it is to expose their children to secondhand smoke," Avni Joshi, senior author and pediatric allergist and immunologist at Mayo Clinic Children's Center, said in a press release. "We knew that kids should not be exposed to tobacco, but how bad their asthma is likely to be with tobacco exposure was not clear. This study helped us quantify that risk, and so it informs as well as empowers us with the risk assessment. A child is twice as likely to end up in the hospital with an asthma flare if family members continue to smoke."
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting children. About 7.1 million children below 18 years old have asthma. Aside from cigarette smoke, asthma attacks can be triggered by respiratory infections and colds, allergens, air pollutants, sudden temperature change, excitement or stress and exercise, according to the American Lung Association.
The study was published in the Sept. 24 issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
