INTRODUCTION Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure is linked to a series of serious health problems. Children may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of SHS exposure at home. This study aimed to determine the association between SHS exposure at home and cognitive performance in school children. METHODS A multistage sampling was performed across rural primary schools in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and the children aged 10-11 years (n=312) were subjected to cognitive tests including digit span, letter-number sequencing, coding, and symbol search. Cognitive performance was tested using subscales derived from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. RESULTS The prevalence of SHS exposure at home was 55.8%, where 11.9% of children lived with one smoker, while 43.9% of children lived with ≥2 smokers. There was a significant difference in the mean score of the combined cognitive tests between SHS-exposed and non-exposed children after adjustment for sex, parental educational level, family income and academic performance [Pillai's Trace=0.084, F statistic (df)=6.803 (4302), p<0.001]. CONCLUSIONS More than half of the primary school children in rural Kuala Krai were exposed to SHS from at least one smoker at home. There was a significant association between SHS exposure at home and cognitive performance.

中文翻译：

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马来西亚农村小学儿童在家中二手烟暴露与认知能力之间的关联。

简介二手烟（SHS）暴露与一系列严重的健康问题有关。儿童可能特别容易受到家庭中SHS暴露的影响。这项研究旨在确定在家中暴露于SHS与小学生的认知能力之间的关联。方法对马来西亚吉兰丹州瓜拉边的农村小学进行了多阶段抽样。使用自我管理的问卷收集数据，并对10-11岁的儿童（n = 312）进行认知测试，包括数字跨度，字母数字排序，编码和符号搜索。使用衍生自韦氏儿童智力量表的子量表对认知能力进行了测试。结果在家中接触SHS的患病率为55.8％，其中11.9％的儿童有一名吸烟者，而43岁则为吸烟者。9％的儿童居住着≥2个吸烟者。在对性别，父母教育水平，家庭收入和学习成绩进行调整之后，暴露于SHS的儿童和未暴露的儿童的组合认知测验的平均得分之间存在显着差异[Pillai's Trace = 0.084，F statistic（df）= 6.803 （4302），p ＜0.001]。结论在瓜拉边疆农村地区，一半以上的小学生在家中至少有一名吸烟者接触过SHS。在家中接触SHS与认知能力之间存在显着关联。001]。结论在瓜拉边疆地区农村，一半以上的小学生在家中至少有一名吸烟者接触过SHS。在家中接触SHS与认知能力之间存在显着关联。001]。结论在瓜拉边疆农村地区，一半以上的小学生在家中至少有一名吸烟者接触过SHS。在家中接触SHS与认知能力之间存在显着关联。