Development of Smoking Habits in the Population of Czech RepublicDuring 1985-1997/98

Overview

Background.
Tobacco smoking belongs to high risk factors for the circulation diseases. Aim of the present studyis to identify and describe smoking habits of the population in nine districts in Czech republic in years 1997/98 andin six of these districts to analyze smoking trends during the period of 1985-1997/98.Methods and Results. Information on the smoking habits were collected in years 1985, 1988, and 1992 in sixdistricts which took part in the international project WHO MONICA. In 1997/98 data collection was extended intothree other districts. New randomly selected samples of 1% of the population were explored each time. 5293 malesand 5610 females 25-64 years old were questioned during a controlled talk with a health-officer. In 1997/98 in ninedistricts the prevalence of actual smokers was 38 %, that of former smokers was 24 % and 38 % of non-smokers.The group of females consisted of 27 % of actual smokers, 10% of former smokers, and 63 % of non-smokers. Theaverage daily consumption was 16.4 (±8.6) cigarettes per day in males and 11.3 (±7.0) cigarettes per day in females.In 1985-1997/98 the smoking prevalence of males aged 25-64 years decreased in six districts from 49 % to 37 %(p

Key words:
cigarette smoking, education, project WHO MONICA.