Local health campaigns to reduce lung cancers induced by radon and smoking--who responds?

The greatest risk factor for lung cancer is smoking, the second largest factor being raised radon levels at home. Initiatives to stop smoking and reduce domestic radon levels have met with some success, but in both cases a significant proportion of those affected have not taken action. The two risk factors combine, so that those who smoke and live in a house with high radon levels are at higher risk than if exposed to only one of the two threats. There is the potential for combined public health campaigns to better target those affected. Using postal questionnaires, we collected demographic information of those in Northamptonshire, UK, a radon Affected Area, who participated in Smoking Cessation Programmes, and compared these to a recent study by our group of those who had taken action to reduce radon. The comparison suggests that these two groups are significantly different, and in some cases differ from the general population. In addition, those who continue to quit smoking at 1 year were more likely to have children under 18 at home, and live with a parent or partner compared to those who had relapsed after the previous assessment at 4 weeks. There is merit in extending Smoking Cessation Programmes to include advice on reducing the risks from radon.