Knowledge and attitudes about smoking and environmental tobacco smoke: a comparison of parents and children attending upper and lower income pediatric sites.

To define differences in knowledge and attitudes about environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and smoking among different populations of parents and children, surveys about smoking and health were administered in low-income pediatric clinics and upper-income private practices using a Likert scale. Sixty-five children and 300 parents from pediatric clinics and 149 children and 300 parents from private practices participated. At the clinics 39% of parents were white, 23% graduated college, 33% smoked, and 20% allowed smoking in their home. This differed from private practices where 93% of parents were white, 77% graduated college, 13% smoked and 6% allowed smoking in their home. Parents from private practices expressed greater agreement with fact and opinion statements about ill effects of tobacco. More lower income children reported living with a smoker (45% vs 23%). These data demonstrate differences in adult knowledge and attitudes about health effects of smoking, highlighting the need for increased intervention among lower income families.