The “llars sense fum” project begins

Past Thursday, January 13, we had the first meeting of the project “Effectiveness of an evidence-based intervention to promote smoke-free homes: randomized controlled trial” financed by the Carlos III Health Institute. This study is coordinated by the ICO/IDIBELL Tobacco Control Unit in collaboration with researchers from the Public Health Agencies of Barcelona (ASPB) and Catalonia (ASPCAT).

It is widely known that exposure to tobacco smoke by involuntary smokers increases the risk of various diseases, such as lung cancer and myocardial infarction in adults, and also has a specific impact on children who are especially sensitive. Our research group has estimated that each year this exposure is responsible for 9,000 cases of asthma, 120,000 middle ear infections and 7,000 lower respiratory tract infections in Spanish children. However, the proportion of households with smokers with self-regulation of tobacco consumption in Spain is only 13%, although 41% of households have some type of regulation, but 46% still do not have any snoke-free regulation. Therefore, promoting smoke-free homes is an important element to improve the health of our children.

This project aims to adapt and test the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at families with children with adult smokers who smoke at home so that they stop doing so. The intervention will be offered to families with minors in collaboration with the Associations of Families of Students of primary and secondary schools in the Barcelona metropolitan area.

The project will study 400 volunteer families who, divided into two groups, will follow two versions of the intervention to evaluate its implementation and effectiveness in our context. The intervention contains various activities for families to learn about the benefits of not smoking at home and make it a true “smoke-free home”. The intervention will be implemented in 6 weeks. To evaluate its effectiveness, the outcome will be followed up at 6 months. This research, which has a duration of 3 years, will allow to scientifically evaluate an intervention to promote smoke-free homes, as well as its implementation and future large-scale usability.