Self-reported exposure to secondhand smoke has declined dramatically in recent years, according to researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Reuters reported Oct. 9 that researcher Saverio Stranges and colleagues found that while three-quarters of study participants -- nonsmokers ages 35-70 -- said they had been exposed to secondhand smoke at home before the age of 21, just 13 percent of women and 12 percent of men said they had been recently exposed to secondhand smoke at home. Also, 10.8 percent of women and 23.5 percent of men said they had been recently exposed to secondhand smoke at work.

"The fact that exposure to secondhand smoke is declining is a positive development that is likely to contribute to reductions in mortality from coronary heart disease," the researchers said.

The research appears in the Oct. 9, 2006 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.