Passive Smoke and Low Birth WeightEvidence of a Threshold Effect
Arch G. Mainous III, PhD;
William J. Hueston, MD
Arch Fam Med. 1994;3(10):875-878.
Abstract
Objective
To examine the relationship between different levels of maternal passive tobacco smoke exposure and low-birth-weight infants.
Design
Data from the National Health Interview Survey were analyzed.
Participants
Women who did not smoke during pregnancy and gave birth to children within 6 years of the date of the interview in 1988 were the source of the data (N=3253). Passive smoke exposure was categorized as very low, low, moderate, and high.
Main Outcome Measures
Low-birth-weight (<2500 g) infants and mean birth weight in grams.
Results
There was no significant difference in the rates of low birth weights when passive smoke exposure was dichotomized as no exposure vs some exposure (5.0% vs 5.6%, respectively; P=.55). However, when the level of exposure to passive smoke was considered as a continuum, high exposure was associated with both lower mean birth weights in grams (P=.007) and a greater likelihood of a low birth weight (P=.01), indicating a threshold effect of exposure. Logistic regression analysis indicated that, after controlling for potentially confounding variables, individuals with high exposure are 1.57 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98 to 2.51) as likely as those with low exposure to have a low-birth-weight infant. Among nonwhites, individuals with high exposure to passive smoke were 2.31 times (95% CI, 1.06 to 4.99) as likely to have a low-birth-weight infant as those with low exposure to passive smoke.
Conclusion
A threshold effect of exposure to passive smoke and low birth weight was discovered.
Author Affiliations
From the Department of Family Practice, University of Kentucky, Lexington (Dr Mainous), and the Department of Family Medicine, Eau Claire Family Practice Residency, University of Wisconsin, Madison (Dr Hueston).
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