Association between Secondhand Smoke and Oral Symptoms among Korean Adolescents

Background: This study used data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey of Korean adolescents to determine the current trends in secondhand smoke (SHS) among adolescents and to identify the association between the level of exposure to SHS and oral symptoms.Methods: This study employed data that were extracted from the 17th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey in 2021 and finally analyzed data from 54,848 adolescents.Oral symptoms were classified into three classes to analyze subjective oral symptoms: Class I for tooth pain when eating or drinking hot or cold foods; Class II for throbbing tooth pain; and Class III for sore or bleeding gums during the recent 12 months.The frequency and place of SHS per week were analyzed for SHS variables.The analysis plan file was created by reflecting weight, stratification variables, and cluster variables for analysis.Results: Among the adolescents, 53.2% were exposed to SHS at least once a week, of which 23.3%, 7.9%, and 40.0% were exposed at home, school, and in public indoor places.Subjective oral symptom classes I, II, and III were associated with sex, grade, educational level of their fathers and mothers, subjective economic class, and subject academic class.Compared to a group not exposed to SHS, the risk of subjective oral symptom classes I, II, and III was significantly higher in those who were exposed to SHS at least once a week.Conclusion: This study identified the association between the level of exposure to SHS and oral symptoms among adolescents.Factors for SHS should be considered to prevent oral symptoms among adolescents, and plans that can control SHS of adolescents should be established.