BACKGROUND
Exposure to parental smoking is associated with wheeze in early childhood. There are plenty of papers showing the relationship between parental smoking in urban settings but very few in rural settings
AIM
To examine the association between maternal and paternal smoking and prevalence of asthma
METHODS
Following ISAAC Study procedures, parents of children aged 6-7 years, living in San Francisco, Argentina , and surrounding rural areas were asked about symptoms of asthma, maternal smoking in the child’s first year of life and current maternal and paternal smoking
RESULTS
A total of 1315 urban and 572 rural children were studied
Maternal and paternal smoking was associated with an increased risk of asthma, although the magnitude of the ORs is higher in the rural setting
There was a strong interaction between maternal and paternal smoking
CONCLUSION
This study has confirmed the importance of parental smoking, mainly in the rural setting.