Association Between Secondhand Smoking and Cardiovascular Health Among the U.S. Adult Population Who Participated in the 2017-2018 NHANES Survey

The purpose of this study was to expand upon previous research by investigating the relationship between exposure to secondhand smoking and cardiovascular health in the general U.S. population across various demographic variables. Methods: Using a nationally representative sample, from the 2017-2018 NHANES survey, patterns of secondhand smoking and cardiovascular health issues were examined. This relationship was examined individually and in combination with other sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, family income/poverty, race, education level, birth country, U.S. citizenship status, and language of interview using multivariate logistic regression. Results: The data included 3882 subjects including 23.6% of participants who were exposed to secondhand smoking while 76.33% had not been exposed. Individuals who reported that they were not exposed to secondhand smoke had 32.1% lower odds (95% CI: 0.56-0.82) of having cardiovascular health issues compared to individuals who reported being exposed secondhand smoke, (95% CI: 0.56-0.82). Additionally, statistically significant associations between secondhand smoking and cardiovascular health were identified when factoring in various demographic factors such as gender, ratio of family income poverty, birth country, U.S. citizenship status, education level, and cardiovascular health issues. Conclusion: These results indicate that secondhand smoking exposure should be avoided to potentially reduce the risk of cardiovascular health issues