Yul Hee Kim, Byung Sung Kim, Chang Won Won, Sunyoung Kim, Hye Jin Jang

Department of Family Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea


Background: Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) has been shown to cause health problems. Recent stud- ies demonstrated an association of SHS with depression and poor mental health. The urinary cotinine concen- tration (Ucot) is an objective indicator of exposure to SHS. In this study, we evaluated the association between depression and Ucot in adult non-smokers adults in Korea.
Methods: We analyzed the data of 3,417 adults, aged ≥ 19 years, who participated in the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016). The eligible subjects were non-smokers. Depression was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The subjects were dichotomized into two groups: the high depressive symptom group (PHQ-9 ≥ 10 [n=185]) and the low depressive symptom group (PHQ-9 <10 [n=3,232]). The demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical characteristics of the subjects were re- trieved from the survey data. Ucot was dichotomized into high-Ucot (≥ 10 ng/mL) and low-Ucot (<10 ng/mL). The Ucot and other characteristics were compared between the two groups. To adjust for confounding varia- bles, we conducted a logistic regression analysis and determined the difference in Ucot between the two groups.
Results: After adjusting for confounders, the high depressive symptom group was found to be associated with high-Ucot (odds ratio, 1.824; 95% confidence interval, 1.020-3.262). Sex, education, socioeconomic status, marital status, occupational status, limitation of activity, and the presence of an underlying diseases (diabetes and dyslipidemia) had a significant effect on depression. Conclusion: This concluded that depression was associated with high urine cotinine level in adult non- smokers.
Korean J Health Promot 2019;19(3):138-144

Keywords: Non-smokers, Tobacco, Cotinine, Depression, Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey