Secondhand smoke linked to hospital readmission for asthmatic kids

A new study reveals that children who have asthma are much more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 1 year if they are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or in the car.

Researchers from the study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, say their findings could prompt insurance companies to give incentives to parents or guardians who quit smoking.

Guided by senior author Dr. Robert Kahn from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, the research team - also from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Children's Hospital in Pennsylvania - studied over 600 children between the ages of 1 and 16, who were admitted to the hospital for asthma or bronchodilator-responsive wheezing between August 2010 and October 2011.

By measuring cotinine - a substance produced when the body breaks down nicotine - in the blood and saliva of the children, the researchers were able to scientifically assess tobacco exposure, though they also asked primary caregivers about tobacco exposure.

The children were followed for at least 12 months to see if they were readmitted to the hospital in that time.

The researchers say their cotinine technique could be used in targeting smoking cessation efforts, as well as to reduce the chances of future hospitalizations for asthmatic children.

Dr. Kahn explains:

"The ability to measure serum and salivary cotinine levels presents the possibility of an objective measure that can be obtained when a child is seen in the emergency department or in the hospital and may be used to predict future hospitalizations."

This new finding could potentially help some of the 7.1 million children the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says have asthma in the US.

Readmission twice as likely for kids exposed to smoke

Of the children in the study, 17% were readmitted within 1 year, the researchers say.

Although tobacco exposure rates as reported by parents and caregivers totaled 35.1%, the researchers found that serum and saliva measures were actually 56.1% and 79.6%, respectively.