RJ Reynolds
Lifetime Environmental Exposure to Tobacco Smoke and Primary Lung Cancer of Non-Smoking Taiwanese Women.
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ENVfRONMENTAI. TOBACCO SMOKE AND LUNG CANCER 231
6Department of Health. ExecutiveYuan. Republic of China. Nealth
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z~ Brownson RC. Alavanja MC, Hock Ei Reliability of passive smoke
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21 Stockwell HG. Goldman AL, Lyman GH rt al. Environmental tobacco
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ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE AND LUNG CANCER 225
1974 1916 197a 19a0 1982 19" 1996 19" 19901992 1994 1996 ~
Years
Figure 1 Smoking rate (%) and age-adjusted mona9ry rate (per 100 000
women) of lung cancer for women in Taiwan. 1974-t996
the National Department of Heahh,6 there have been about
1350 female deaths from lung cancer per year in Taiwan in
recent years (1991-1997). However, only 9-10% of women
suffering from lung cancer had a history of cigarette smoking.7
The prevalence of smoking in females aged >16 years has
remained at the low level of 2-5% for a long time (1974-1996),
but the mortality trend over this period, in contrast, has
increased steadily (Figure 1) 8 Although cigarette smoking is
considered to be the most important cause of lung cancer, it
cannot fully explain the epidemiological characteristics of lung
cancer in Taiwanese women, who smoke rarely but contract
lung cancer relatively often. In Taiwan, annual nationwide
surveys reported a high smoking prevalence (55-62%) among
mene and, as expected, this has lead to a large amount of
involuntary exposure of children and non-smoking women to
ETS. Despite the fact that the authors in the previous study
found that exposure to fumes emitted from cooking oils, when
not reduced by an extractor such as a fume hood, appeared to
be an important risk factor for lung cancer in non-smoking
Taiwanese women,79 the role of ETS among female lung cancer
patients should not be dismissed.
The present case-control study was undertaken to investigate
the relationship of passive smoking and lung cancer, especially
for non-smoking Taiwanese women. Risk assessment for ETS
was focused particularly on the effects of cumulative exposure
in childhood and.adult life, and their interaction.
Materials and Methods
Study population
This study used a case-control design with one case matched to
one or two controls. The source population was geographically
defined as all women resident in the greater Kaohsiung area,
which comprised 1 I urban, 9 suburban and 26 rural communities,
and has a total population of about 2.1 million inhabitants.
The cases were drawn from Kaohsiung Medical University
Hospital, which is a highly regarded teaching hospital in South-
ern Taiwan, and is accessible to patients from all socioeconomic
groups. A system of rapid case recognition was introduced for
the determination of lung cancer cases, so those patients could
be recognized and selected into our study as soon after diagnosis
as possible. In this system, all newly hospitalized women sus-
pected of suffering from primary carcinoma of the lung (lCD-9,
code 162) were traced from hospital medical records and
quickly verified histologically by a pathologist. A total of 295
eligible cases of lifetime non-smoking women suffering from
lung cancer were identified between January 1992 and June
1998. Of these, 14 patients had died or been discharged by
the tinre tite interviewcrs visitrd the wards, 7 were too ill to
participate, and 6 refused to be interviewed. In all 268 (91 0)
non-smoking female lung cancer patients were interviewed.
The controls were derived from the same geographical areas
as cases. They were also lifetime non-smoking women seleaed
from hospitalized patients at the same hospital with conditions
unrelated to tobacco use. The controls included patients with
eye problems (cataract and glaucoma), bone fractures, and
women undergoing physical check-ups. Identified by the same
system of rapid disease recognition as the cases, the first andlor
second eligible controls were selected within 3 weeks of the case
being identified and matched to case on age (m 2 years). Only
one control patient was matched to each of the first 78 cases
during 1992 and 1993, due to administrative and budgetary
limitations. All remaining cases were matched to two controls,
except for 13 cases for each of whom, because of old age, only
a single match could be found. Of the 492 non-smoking age-
matched women identified as suitable controls, 445 (90%)
agreed to be interviewed for the control group (eye problems:
52%; bone fracture: 27%: physical check-up:2l%).
Interviews
A structured questionnaire was completed for each case and
control patient in a face-to-face interview by two trained inter-
viewers. The questionnaire was designed to collect information
on demographic characteristics. smoking history- lifetime
occupations, dietary factors, history of lung diseases. cooking
practices, cooking conditions. air pollution in general inside the
home and ETS. A field supervisor checked all completed
questionnaires and relevant medical records, which were then
transferred to coding sheets for computer analysis.
Data specification
Lifetime smoking history of study subjects was collected through
personal interview by the trained interviewers. Subjects' spouse
or other next-of-skin were asked through a short interview for
verification of their smoking status. People who did not smoke
as much as one cigarette per day for one year, or > 365 cigarettes
over their lifetime were considered lifetime non-smokers.
Information about cases and controls exposed to ETS was
collected for three categories. These included childhood (-18
years) exposure at home, adult life (319 years) exposure at
home and workplace exposure. In each time period at home,
any patient living with a regular family member who was a
smoker for at least one year was considered to be a 'potential'
passive smoker. Among these, a passive smoker was identified as .
a patient whose family members had smoked in her'presence',
as some Chinese smokers do not smoke at home in the presence
of their family. After establishing passive smoker status, a series
of detailed questions was asked for each active smoker identi-
fied about such circumstances as: duration, starting year, stop-
ping year and the number of years living with the smoker. For
patients who had a regular job. the exposure was measured by
asking patients whether they were exposed to tobacco smoke
generated by co-workers in the workplace. Each job held for
>_5 years was assessed separately. Patients who reported being
passive smokers were also asked to indicate the number of years
the co-worker smoked in their 'presence' and the number of
active smokers in the workplace. Three indicators of tobacco
smoke exposure were constructed for these three categories of

226 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
exposure: (1) a dichotomous variable which classified patients
as those who reported any exposure versus none: (2) total
number of smokers; (3) total number of 'smoker-years',
calculated by summing the number of years the passive smokers
reported exposure to each active smoker. Among these
indicators, exposure sources in childhood at home included
father, mother and other family member, and in adult life at
home- included husband, husband's father and other family
members. Otherwise, 'pack-years' of exposure to husband's
smoking were estimated by multiplying the number of packs of
cigarettes smoked per day in the subject's 'presence' by the
number of years he smoked while living with her.
Information on other air pollution factors inside the house,
such as Chinese incense, mosquito coiis and cooking fuels were
also collected. Questions were directed at the type of material
used, duration and frequency of burning and the age of patient
at the time of exposure. Each housewife who had to cook for
her family was asked about cooking habits frequently used and
the type of exhaust ventilation systems employed in kitchens
such as chimneys or fume extractors. Other questions were
directed at factors such as lifetime occupation, daily diet, and
history of lung disease. Occupations were classified into one of
five categories: administration, hazardous industry, farmec house-
wife and others, and a person's lifetime occupation was taken to
be the job they held the longest. Daily dietary habits were
assessed by measuring the frequency and quality of consump-
tion of 12 food items, including meat, vegetables, fruits. pickles,
smoked food, etc. Information on lung diseases including
tuberculosis, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma were
separately collected.
Statistical analysis
We analysed the collected data using the statistical software
package STATA.10 Analyses included the x2 test for comparing
demographic factors and some multivariate techniques specially
designed for matched case-control studies. To explore the
distribution of risk factors, tables of case and control numbers
were studied rather than matched pairs. Odds ratios (OR) and
95% CI for various associations were determined from matched
pairs using conditional logistic regression models.ll Statistical
significance of trends for matched pairs were calculated by
categorizing exposure variables and treating scored variables as
continuous. All OR estimates were adjusted for residential area,
educational level and occupation, in order to reduce residual
confounding, as well as for tuberculosis, cooking fuels and fume
extractor, which were found to confound the association
between passive smoking and lung cancer in this study. Inter-
active effects of exposure to ETS during childhood and adult life
(including exposure at home and workplace) were evaluated by
assuming an additive or a multiplicative interaction relation-
ship. Main effect variables for the two exposure periods and
their cross-product terms were incorporated into the logistic
regression models for the testing of interaction based on a
multiplicative model. The synergism 'S' index proposed by
Rothman and its 95% CI were computed to evaluate the
empirical deviation from the additive interaction relationship.l2
Otherwise, the proportion of lung cancer cases attributable to
tobacco smoke exposure generated in different life stages
(population attributable risks proportion) was calculated
according to Buzzi eral.'s method.13
Results
Demographic characteristics, confounding factors
and cancer types
Cases and controls were generally comparable with regard to
background demographic factors and occupations (Table 1).
Table I Distributions of demographic and confounding factors among
non-smoking women. Taiwan, 1992-1998
Cases
n=268
Factor/Category % Controls
n=445
%
Age (years)
__....
<41
5.6
4.9
41-50 146
. 15.3
51-60 24.6 24.9
61-70 30.2 31.5
>70 25.0 23.4
Residential area
Urban
32.5
30.8
Suburban 44.0 48.5
Rural 23.5 20.7
Ethnfcity
Fukienese
89.9
87.9
Mainlander 4.9
.......
. .
. 4.9
Others i2 7.2
Religion
.........
Buddhism 33.2 39.1
Taoism 8.6 7.4
Folk religion 53
0 47
2
. .
..._._..
Others 5.2 6.3
Marital status
Married
76.5
79.6
Single 1.9 1.6
Widowed 20.2 17.8
Divorced . 1.5 ~ 1.1
Years of education
No
57
1~~~~
52
4
...._.. _......,...._... ..._._ .
. _..,...__._..
.... . .
1-9 33.2 35.7
>9 9.7 11.9
Occupation
Administration
28
0
24
5
......,.. ._.__._. ._
_._._ .
_ _.__ . .. __ ._..
...._ .
,
__._ ...
Hazardous industry 4.5 4.0
Farmer 26.1 28.5
Housewife 26.5 29.2
Others 14.9 13.7
Iuberculosisa
No
2So 93.3
_ ..
.
._.. _
_._
443
.
~
99.6
Yes t
Y
6.7 1 0.5
Cooking fuelsa
No cooking or gas
44.7
61 1
Wood or charcoal 46.6 33.6
Coal or anthracite 8.7 5.3
Kitchen with fume extractora
Yes 56.4 3-77 84.8
No . 7 43.6 6 P 15.2
° P < 0.05 for companson of cases and controls.

ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE AND LUNG CANCER 227
There were no apparent differences in demographic characteo-
istics between the three sources of control patients in this study.
The mean age of the cancer patients at diagnosis (61.5 ± 12.2
years) was a little greater than that of the controls (61.2 t 11 .5
years), but the age pattern of case-control pairs was, of c'ourse,
closely matched. Only three variables (tuberculosis- cooking
fuels and fume extractor) in our data set substantially con-
founded the relationship between passive smoking and lung
cancer. Non-smoking cancer patients suffered frequently front
adenocarcinoma (67.9 % ), squamous cell carcinoma (17.9%),
and small cell carcinoma (1 L.2 i), and rarely from other cell
type carcinomas (3.0%).
Environmental tobacco smoke
Distributions of childhood and adult life exposure to ETS at
home or in the workplace are shown in Table 2. A total of
43.7%. 62.7% and 10.2% of lung cancer patients reported at
least one year of near-distant exposure to any source of passive
smoke at home or in the workplace during childhood and adult
life. The risks of contracting lung cancer for ever-exposed women
were 2.1-fold (95% CI: 1.4-3.1), 2.0-fold (95% Cl: 1.4-2.8)
and 1.5-fold (95% C1:0.7-3.5) higher than that of never-
exposed women in these three categories of exposure (data not
shown). Women passively exposed to tobacco smoke as adults
had the largest average number of active smokers in the
workplace, however, the largest average cumulative exposure
in terms of smoker-years were observed in the household. In
addition, comparing exposure sources over the course of a life-
«me, the highest proportion of exposure occurred in the house-
hold during adult life (62.5-62.7%) and a smoking husband
caused the largest share of household adult exposure (72.9-
76.5%) for both cases and controls.
Taking all exposure parameters into account, a non-smoking
woman whose father smoked in her presence during her child-
hood had a 70% higher risk of lung cancer than a non-smoking
woman whose father never smoked (P < 0.05; Table 3). A
similarly significant elevation of lung cancer risk (2.2-fold) was
observed for non-smoking women exposed to the passive
smoke produced by her husband in her adult years. There were
no significant excess risks of lung cancer observed if a smoking
father or husband did not smoke in the participant's presence.
At an exposure level of >20 pack-years from a smoking hus-
band, lifetime non-smokers displayed a --I.S-fold increase in
lung cancer risks. There was no evidence of significantly elevated
risks of lung cancer due to exposure to passive smoke produced
by other family members or from ETS in the workplace.
Lifelong cumulative exposure to household or workplace
tobacco smoke in different life stages was compared. Patients
exposed to passive smoke at the highest level in childhood were
2.2-fold (95 % CI : 1.4-3.4) and in adult life 2.6-fold (95%
CI: 1.6-4.2) more likely to develop lung cancer than non-
exposed women. Childhood and adult life exposure were both
found to independently contribute to the risks of contracting
lung cancer, even when exposure in the other life stage has
been taken into account. A clear dose-response relationship was
evident (Table 4).
Interaction effects
The synergistic effects of household or workplace exposure to
ETS during childhood and adult life (measured in smoker-years)
Table 2 Distributions of childhood and adult life exposure to
envirmtmenlal tobacco smoke at home or workplace among
nun-smoking women, Taiwan. 1992-1998
Exposure category Cases Controls
Childhood exposure at homea
. . . . .__ ....,....__.. ...._ .
...
No. of ever/never exposure
~ 1171151 127/318
Per cent of any exposure
( 43.7 28.5
Exposed subjects:
No. of smokers (mean ± sd)
1.9: 1.0
2.0: 1.0
Total smoker-years (mean z sd) 29.7 x 12.3
~~ 30.8 x 12 7
7
Per cent of lifetime exposure 31.5 327
Smoker-years from father (mean x sd) 17.9 z 8.6 18.1 t 9.2
Per cent of childhood exposure (%I 60.3 58.8
Adult life exposure
At homeb No. of ever/never exposure
1681100
207I238
Per cent of any exposure (%) 62.7 46.5
Exposed subjects:
No, of smokers (mean m sd)
L8 x 1.1
1.7 z 1.0
Total smoker y<ars (mean x sd) 41.0 z 24.9 36.3 m 18.8
Per cent of lifetime ex
osure I%) 62
5 62
7
p
. _..__. ...._. ._.. .
...._..._ .
_..,.._...
Smokcr-years from husband (mean x sd) 3 L.4 3 16.9 26.5 x 16.6
Per cent of home exposure (9e) 76.6 73.0
At workplace° -
No. of ever/never exposure 201117 21/294
Per cent of any exposure (%) 10.2 6.7
Exposed subjects:
No. of smokers (mean ± sd)
2.7 ± I.6
2.5 m 1.9
Total smoker-years (mean ± sd) 32.8 z 22.7 26.3: 19.3
Per cent of lifetime exposure (%) 6.0 4.6
Lifetime exposure
No. ofever/neverexposure
189/791
249/196
Per cent of any exposure (%) 70.5 56.0
Exposed subjects:
No. of smokers (mean x sd)
3.1 x 2.0
2.6 x 1.8
Total smoker-years (mean a sd) 58.3 m 34.6 48.2 x 28.0
Per cent of lifetime exposure (%) 100.0 100.0
a Exposure sources included father, mother and other family member.
b Exposure sources included husbands faiher. husband, and other family
members.
r Women who did not have regular job have been omitted in this calculation.
were evaluated by including interaction terms in the logistic
regression equations. The OR for non-smoking women who
reported childhood passive exposure to tobacco smoke were
higher than for those reporting no such exposure for each level
of exposure in adult life. A positive does-response association
between adult life exposure and the risk of lung cancer were
found both in women who had and those who did not have
childhood exposure. The OR observed for the combined effects
of childhood exposure with various levels of exposure in adult
life were also compared with those expected on the basis of the
additive or multiplicative interaction relationship. The risks of
contracting lung cancer among non-smoking women exposed
to ETS at the level of <41 smoker-years in adult life was found
to be a little greater than risks expected by the additive or muhi-
plicative no-interaction models. At expnsure levels of >40

ENVIRONi511;NTAL TOBACCO SMOKE AND LUNG CANCER 229
Table 5 The interanion effecu fur lung cancer associmed with chddhood and adult life cxpusurc iu
cnviruumenlal tubaccn .moke iETS) among
nomsnwking women, Taiwan, 1992-1998
Adult life exposure'
No 1-20 21-40 >40
Factor/
smoker-years Cases/
Controls
ORb
95% Cf Cases!
Controls
ORf' 95 % Cl Cases/
Controls
ORI'
95 % Cf Cases!
Cnntrol,
OR'
95% Cl
Childhood exposure
~No~
~79/196
1.0
13/26
1.2 10.5-2.6) ~
~ 34/59
1.4
I0.R-2.51
25/37.
i.7
10.9-3.3)
Yes 18131 1.4 (0.7-2.9) 9116 1.8 (0.6-5.31 30/41 2.1 I1.1-4.0) 60/39 4.7 (2.4-9.4)
Exp. By Addi.e 1.6 1 8 2.1
Exp. By Multl 4
..._ 1.7 2.0
.. 2.4~ ~ ~
S(95%CI)° 1.3(0.1-248) 1.4 (0.2-6.7) 34 (1.0-10.8)
' Adult life exposures included home and workplace exposure.
t' Odds ranos were adjusted (or rnsidential area. education. occupatinn. mber.ulusis. cooking fuals
and fume ec[racaor.
° Expected odds ratio under adduive no-inturacrinn model,
d Expected odds ratio under muhiplicaiive no-interaaiun model.
` Synergism index based on an additive modei.
In the exploration of the cause-effect relationship and risk
assessments between environmental exposure to tobacco
smoke and lung cancer, the most commonly reported index
of passive smoking in earlier epidemiological studies has been
the presence or absence of a smoking spouse.16.17 This type of
exposure index has been frequently queried and found to be
inaccurate,°,Ig because of the lack of consideration of passive
smoke exposure which may occur outside the household, as well
as that which may have occurred during childhood. Cummings
et af.19 have tried to measure the association between ETS
exposure occurring during childhood, adult home exposure and
workplace exposure. Unfortunately, little association was
found, and reliance on measurement during a single life stage
(e.g. adult life) or from a single source (e.g. spouse) to define
lifetime exposure, probably results in the misclassification of a
substantial number of subjects. On the other hand, the adverse
health effects associated with passive smoking have been found
to be different between exposures in different life stages.
Janerich « aL20 and Wang et aL4 in their case-control studies
indicated that exposure tn passive smoking during childhood
may predispose a person to develop lung cancer later in life.
regardless of adult exposure. Evidence from these studies sug-
gests that the effect of passive smoking on lung cancer should
be assessed on the basis of exposure from different life stages.
No appropriate gold standard, not even urine cotinine level,
is available to verify the validity of questionnaire measures of
lifetime involuntary smoking. However, questionnaire responses
with good reliability are believed more likely to have good
validity.Coultaserat.21 andBrownsonetal.22comparedresponses
on smoking behaviours of each household member between
original and second interviews conducted within several
months of follow-up. Concordance was high (>84%) both [or
parental smoking status during childhood and for spouses
smoking status during adult life, although the agreement for
ETS exposure measured by quantitative methods were not as
high. Methodological study concerned with the reliability of
various exposure sources between subjects' passive smoking
reports and exposure reports by those of surrogates also showed
that agreement of exposure generated by parents or spouse was
relatively high compared to that generated by other household
members or co-workers.19 For studies of the health effects of
lifetime passive smoking. for which parents and spouse were
considered separately as the major exposure sources during
childhood and adult life- high reliability on the relevant responses
could reduce the probability of exposure misclassification in
different life stages. .
In this study, all possible snurces of tobacco smoke exposure
were assessed from childhood and throughout adult life. The
authors employed an index of passive exposure, which entbodies
both the numbers of active smokers as well as the years smoked
by each smoker to assess the effect of exposure accumulated in
various life stages. The exposure index used concurrently
verified that the subjects with a smoking relative or co-worker
were in fact exposed to passive smoke (e.g. that the active smoker
smoked in their presence), as not all subjects are substantially
exposed to passive smoke when living with an active smoker.
This is an important valid qualification of environmental
exposure to tobacco smoke. In fact, if we carried out our data
analysis on the basis of binary yes or no categories for the smok-
ing family member or co-workers, most of our positive findings
concerning the relationship between passive smoking and lung
cancer weakened or vanished. This type of misclassification of
ETS exposure may pardy account for the lack of significant
positive findings in previous studies.
The relationship between involuntary exposure to tobacco
smoke in different life stages and lung cancer has been increas-
ingly noticed in recent smdies.42o.22-26 Risk assessment studies
concerned with exposure during adult life have consistently
found that a smoking husband significandv elevated the risk of
lung cancer at the highest level of expostve.''2-'-' a finding con-
sistent with this study. In cuntrast. the risk panern of contract-
ing lung cancer is nut so compatible for exposure occurring
during childhood. Brownson rt 1122 2 and Fontham er a1..2't in
studies with large sample sizes. fuund no excess risk of lung
cancer from parents' snwking even thuugh cumulative house-
hold exposure up to the level of >18 smnker-%ears was exam-
ined. However, Janerich .r al.2i) and Srockwell rr a1..23 as in our
study, identified an about nvufnld risk uf luug cancer when the
subject had ?20 shwker-years of household exposure during
childhood. Wang er r.l.a found a 3.1-fuld increased risk of lung

228 INTERNATION.4L JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Table 3 Odds ratios (OR) and 95% Cl for lung cancer associated with
sources of envirommcntal tobacco smoke in childhood and adult life
among non-smoking women. Taiwan. 1992-1998
No.
Exposure categorya Cases
Childhood exposure at home
Father Non-smoker
136
Absence 36
Presence 96
Mother
........,__.,..__ .._ .
Non-smoker 260
Absence
Presence
6
Other family member
.._. _.___...,. .
Non-smoker 167
Absence
~ 47
Presence 54
Adult life exposure at home
Husband
Non-smoker
82
Absence 40
Presence
~ 146
~Pack-yearsc
1-20 55
21-40 53
>40 38
Husband's father
Non-smoker
217
Absence 17
Presence 34
Other family member
Non-smoker
136
Absence 72
Presence 60
Workplace exposure
Co-workers
Controls ORb 95% CI smoker-years
436 1.0
2
7 0.9 (0.3-3.1)
288 l.0
94 0.8 (0.5-1.3)
63 L4 (0.8-2.2)
192 1.0
89 1.2 (0.7-2 0)
164 2.2 (1.5-3.3)
89 1.5 (0.9-2.4)
51 2.5 (1.5-4.2)
25 3.3 (1.7-6.2)
352 1.0
43 0.5 (0.3-L1)
50 1.2 (0.7-2.2)
252 1.0
~
128 1.0 (0.7-1.6)
65 I 5 (0.9-2.3)
400 1
0
_ . . __. ...,... ._.
24 0.7 (0.3-L5)
2t 1.2 (0.5-2.4)
Non-smoker 236
....._.,.._ . .. ... . . .. .. .. .. ... _ . . _
Absence 12
Presence 20
a Smokers who smoked cigarettes in the presence of passive smokers were
classified as 'presenc<'. otherwise 'absence'.
6 Odds ratios were adjusred for residential area, education, occupation.
tuberculosis, cooking fuels and fume extractor.
c The measure was (or women whuse husbands smokrd cigarettes in their
present.
Women whose husbands were non-smokers were used as reference group.
smoker-years- in contrast, the increased risk apparently departs
from the risks expected by the two interaction models. In the
additive model, the significant synergism'S' index for exposure
>40 smoker-years indicated that childhood exposure has
modified the effect of exposure generated in adult life when
women were exposed to the highest level of tobacco smoke.
However, no statistical evidence suggests that the data
significantly deviated from the conditions of multiplicative
interaction relationship (Table 5).
Table 4 Odds ratios (OR) and 95% Cl for lung cancer associated svvh
cumulmi, cxposure ta emironnuntal tobacco smoke in different life
stages among non-smoking wonsen. Taiwan. 1992-1998
Life stages/
No.
Caxes Controls ORta 95% CI OR26 95% Cf
Childhood exposure at home
No 318 1.0 1.0
1-20 27 33 1.8 (0.9-3.6) 1.5 (0.8-3.0)
.
>20 90 94 2.2 (1.4-3.41 1.8 (1.2-2.9)
P-trcnd 0.001 0.011
Adult life exposure°
No
97
227
1.0
1.0
. .1-20. 22 42 1.3 (0.7-2.5) 1.2 (0.6-2.4)
21-40 64 ]00 1.5 (0.9-2.4) 1.4 (0.9-2.2)
>40 85 76 2.6 (L6-4.2) 22 (1.4-3.7)
P-trend 0.001 0.002
Lifetime exposure
~ ~
No 79 l96
1.0
...1-Z0 16 _ _ 33 1.3 (0.6-2.6)
21-40 54 90 1.6 (0.9-2.6)
41-60 ~~ 43 59 2.0 (1.2-3.5)
>60 76 67 2.8 (1.6-4.8)
P-trend 0.001 '
a Odds ratios were adjusted for residential area, education, occupation, tuber-
culosis, cooking fuels and fume extractor.
6 Odds ratios were adjusted for residential area, education, occupation, tuberculosis, cooking
fuels. fume extractor and exposure in the other life stage.
e Adult life exposures included home and workplace exposure.
Population attributable risk proportion
Passive smoke exposure generated in different life stages was
assessed simultaneously to determine relative attributable frac-
tion. The risks due to childhood and adult life exposure to ETS
separately accounted for 18,4% and 25.5% of total attributable
risks, even after confounding factors were adjusted for. When
exposures in these two life states were combined, the popu-
lation attributable risk proportion of lung cancer was elevated to
37.2% for non-smoking participants.
Discussion
In the present study, the authors identified a woman as a non-
smoker by personal interview, and confirmed this from her
family members. Although the subject's urine specimen was not
available for the validation of smoking status. the proportions of
non-smoking women among case and control subjects were
very similar to those estimated by previous studies conducted in
Taiwan 9.t4 Otherwise. Nyberg er a(. suggested that bias from
smoker misclassification is likely to be insignificant, if smoking
status of study subjects were validated by their next of kin.ls
Women undergoing physical check-ups were selected as a part
of the hospital controls in our study. Because the demographic
distributions of such controls were comparable to that of the
other two groups of controls, the possible selection bias result-
ing from these controls should be limited and not influence our
conclusions.

230 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
cancer associated with tobacco smoke exposure before the
age of 23 years. Because an exposure ot 20 smoker-years is
equivalent to living with one smoker during the first two
decades of life, ahigh but not uncommon level of exposure.Z0
even if the differences in findings among the studies can not he
reconciled, the impact of childhood exposure in enhancing tlte
risk of lung cancer in adult life should not be dismissed.
Our non-smoking women exposed to various levels of ETS
in their childhood were found to contract lung cancer in
proportion to their exposure, with significantly elevated risks
(2.2-fold) at the highest level (>20 smoker-years). In contrast.
significantly elevated risks (2.6-fold) in adult life were reg-
istered at exposure levels >40 smoker-years, but not between
21-40 smoker-years, although as exposure increased so did the
risks. Similar relationships between passive smoking in child-
hood and incidence of lung cancer were observed by studies
conducted in New York20 and Florida.23 and the existence of a
threshold for childhood exposure to tobacco smoke was sug-
gested. Otherwise, the exposure level which results in significant
elevated risk may be easier to reach in childhood than in adult
life. The increased risk associated with a one-unit increase in
smoker-years was somewhat larger for childhood exposure
than for exposure during adult life (OR = 1.35 for childhood;
OR = 1.27 for adult life), when smoker-years was treated as a
continuous variable and risk estimates were adjusted for ex-
posure in the other life stages. Because of imperfect metabolism,
detoxification and immunity in children,4 susceptibility to ETS
in this non-smoking female population may be greater in child-
hood than in adulthood. It is interesting that children exposed
to household tobacco smoke are not only more susceptible to
various respiratory syndromes,l but also to lung cancer later
in adult life. fn addition, it has been proposed that women with
a history of non-malignant lung disease are exposed to an
increased risk of lung cancer.l7 18 According to Janerich et al.,Zo
childhood respiratory diseases may initiate certain changes,
which may lead to lung cancer later in adult life.
Our findings indicated that there was insufficient statistical
evidence to explain the difference between observed and
expected OR for the joint effects of passive smoke in childhood
and adult life based on the multiplicative interaction relation-
ship. However, the synergism 'S' index indicated that the
interaction structure between exposures in these two life stages
started to deviate significantly from the additive model at ex-
posure levels >40 smoker-years. Although only about 32-33%
of lifetime exposure to ETS occurred in childhood, this, based
on an additive interaction model, appeared to modify the risk
effect of subsequent tobacco smoke exposure during adult life.
Otherwise, the appearance of a 2.6-fold of relative excess risk in
the combined exposure of two life periods at the highest ex-
posure level (>40 smoker-years), as well as 3.3-fold increase
in risk observed from a population-based case-control study for
non-smoking women who were exposed to both childhood
household smoke and had the highest level of adult exposure
(>48 smoker-years),24 may suggest that ETS exposure occur-
ring early in life potentiates the effect of high doses of exposure
in adult life in determining the development of lung cancer.
There was a lower proportion of workplace exposure to
tobacco smoke in this study (6.7-10.2%) than that reported by
Kabat er a1.17 and Fontham et a1.24 (57.0-63.2%). This is not
surprising since, for women, a large proportion of their
occupation categories did not give them any chance of exposure
to ETS (housewife: 27-29 %), or made it easy for them to escape
the exposure (farmers: 26-29%). Exposure in the household
has been incorporated in household exposure in adult life
(others category; 14-15%, mostly women who work in their
home). In fact, the number of active smokers and years exposed
were examined for women who reported workplace exposure;
the mean value of 2.5 smokers and 11.3 exposed years
respectively was found in our control group, which is not far
from such exposure observed by other studies.t9
In a female population, such as Taiwanese women, who
smoke relatively rarely, but live in an environment with high
male smoking prevalence, the population burden of lung cancer
due to ETS is relatively important. In ourpresent study, about
18.4% and 25.5% of the aetiologic fraction of lung cancer were
separately attributed to environmental exposure to tobacco
smoke during childhood and adult life. Tobacco use by the
children's father (58.5%) and wife's husband (72.9%) were
found to account for the majority of exposure in a respondent's
childhood and adult life, respectively. Otherwise, a 37.2%
population attributable risk proportion due to lifetime exposure
to passive smoke was detected, and therefore it is reasonable to
expect that prohibition of smoking at home or in public places
could yield considerable health benefits, for both children or
tton-smoking women in Taiwan.
fn summary. environmental exposure to tobacco smoke in
childhood and adult life both contributed independently to the
risk of contracting lung cancer. Children were found to be more
susceptible to ETS than adults and such early exposure appeared
to modify the effect of subsequent tobacco smoke exposure in
adult life. Smoking prohibition would be expected to protect
about 37% of non-smoking Taiwanese women against lung
cancer.
Acknowledgement
This study was supported in part by a grant from National
Department of Health, the Executive Yuan, Republic of China
(Grant No. DOH-82-DC-001) and National Science Council
(Grant No. NSC 84-0412-B-037-049, NSC 85-2331-B-
037-065).
References
t Surgeon General, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The
Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon
General. Pub. No. (CDC) 87-8398. Washington, DC: US Government
Printing Office, 1986.
ZBoard on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Committee on
Passive Smoking, National Research Council, National Academy of
Sciences. Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Measuring Exposure and Assessing
Health Effects. Washington, DC: National Academic Press, 1986.
;Environmental Protection Agency. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive
Snoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. Washington, DC: EPA Office
of Research and Development, December 1992.
4 Wang FL, Love EJ, Liu N, Dai XD. Childhood and adolescent passive
smoking and the risk of female lung cancer. tnt I Eridemial 1994;
23:223-30.
S Chen CJ, Wu HY. Chuang YC «alL Epidemiology charaaeristics and
multiple risk faaors of lung cancer in Taiwan. Anticancer Res 1990:
10:971-76.

O Inicrnatlonal Epidermobyual Asooaiion 2000 Prinicd in G(ar linlam laerrner,.m.dloumal
n/EpiR;nuNrgy 2010,21 .22-I-211
Lifetime environmental exposure to tobacco
smoke and primary lung cancer of
non-smoking Taiwanese women
Chien-Hung Lee,'1b Ying-Chin Ko,ab William Goggins,c Jhi-Jhu Huang,d Ming-Shyan Huang,d
Eing-Long Kaoe and Hwei-Zu Wangf
.
Background For a female population with a high lung cancer moaality rate, such as Taiwanese
women, who smoke relatively rarely, but live in an environment with high male
smoking prevalence, the risk and population burden of lung cancer due to
environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are relatively important.
Methods An age-matched case-control study was designed to investigate the effects of
cumulative environmental exposure to tobacco smoke during childhood and adult
life on lung cancer risk among non-smoking women in Taiwan. InformatiotT`6-n
passive smoking from all possible sources and life periods were obtained from
interviews with 268 and 445 lifetime non-smoking cases and controls. Conditional
logistic regression and synergism 'S' index were applied to the data to assess the
independent and joint effects of passive smoking in different life stages while
controlling for possible confounding variables.
Results Risks of contracting lung cancer among women near-distantly exposed to the
highest level of ETS in childhood (>20 smoker-years) and in adult. life (>40
smoker-years) were 1.8-fold (95% CI: 1.2-2.9) and 2.2-fold (95% Cl : 1.4-3.7)
higher than that among women being never exposed to ETS, and the two
variables accounted for about 37% of tumours in this non-smoking female
population. Children were found to be more susceptible to ETS than adults and
such early exposure was found to modify the effect of subsequent tobacco smoke
exposure in adult life based on an additive interaction model.
Conclusions Environmental tobacco smoke exposure occurring in childhood potentiates the
effect of high doses of exposure in adult life in detetmining the development of
lung cancer. Smoking prohibition would be expected to protect about 37% of
non-smoking Taiwanese women against lung cancer.
....... ..._....._... _...,....
Keywords Lung cancer, environmental tobacco smoke, case-control studies, epidemiology,
effect modification
__._.. . ...,..._......_ ..._...__. _............_. ._.... _ ._..._.. _ . ..__..._._.._ ..__ ....
Accepted 27 October 1999
....__... .__..._......,..._........__. ....._...._ ....._ __. . __.... ....__....... _.._....
In 1986, two landmark repons by the US Surgeon Generall and
the US National Academy of Science2 concluded that the
involuntary inhalation of cigarette smoke by non-smokers can
cause lung diseases, most notably lung cancer. More recently.
' Graduara Institute of Medicine. bschool of Public Hcalth, Kaohsiung
Medical University. Kaohsiung. Taiwan. ROC 807.
` Massachusetls General Hospital Bioslatistics Centeo 50 Staniford Street,
Baston MA 02115, USA,
dDepartment of Inlernal Medical. °Departmenl of Surgery Medical.
IDepanment of ophthalmology, Kaohsiung Medical Universily. No. 100
Shih-Chuan lss Road, Kaohsiung. Taiwan. ROC 807.
Reprint requests to: Ying-Ch:n Ko. School of Public Heallh. Kaohsiung
Medical UNversity, No. 100 Shih-Chuan Ist Road. Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC
801. Emaili ycko@mail.nsysu cdu uv
the US Environmental Protection Agency has examined about
30 epidemiological studies from around the world and reached
a similar conclusion.3 However, in these studies, the most
common measure of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke
(ETS) was the amount of tobacco smoked by the spouse of a
non-smoking wife during their adult life together. Only a few
studies assessed exposure by taking all possible sources and life
periods into account. According to Wang er aL4 unless exposure
to ETS is assessed throughout life, including childhood.
important damage to children's health may remain hidden.
Lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death for
women in Taiwan since 1986. The cumulative mortality rate
ranked as ninthhighest in an international comparison of 18
countries or areas.s According to annual cancer reports from
224
