Influence of Daily Smoking Frequency on Passive Smoking Behaviors and Beliefs: Implications for Self-Tracking Practices and Mobile Applications
Influence of Daily Smoking Frequency on Passive Smoking Behaviors and Beliefs: Implications for Self-Tracking Practices and Mobile Applications

Summary/Abstract: We estimate the influence of daily smoking frequency on behaviors and beliefs that affect self and others’ exposure to tobacco smoke: smoking at home and in the car, passive smoking in public establishments and at the workplace, and beliefs about passive smoking risks, through a secondary analysis of Eurobarometer 77.1 / 2012 and 72.3 / 2009 surveys on European Union (EU27) population. We find that the number of daily cigarettes is a powerful predictor of smoking at home and in the car. This finding also holds for smokers that live with children aged 10 and younger in the house. Daily smoking frequency is a strong predictor of respondents’ exposure to tobacco smoke in eating and drinking establishments and at the workplace. By aggregating datasets, we identify a significant decline of exposure to passive smoking from 2009 to 2012. Contrary to expectations, light smokers and heavy smokers express, on average, similar opinions concerning health risks of tobacco smoke for nonsmokers. This concurrence indicates that defensive information processing concerning tobacco smoke does not change with reduced smoking. Quitting makes a difference: former smokers are significantly more likely to acknowledge serious health risks than current smokers. Developers of selftracking applications for smokers could contribute to reduced exposure to tobacco smoke of users and those in their proximity, such as children, by stimulating awareness to the social circumstances of smoking and exposure to smoke, and by encouraging users to monitor smoking at home and in the car.

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