. Smoking: real progress in Europe

Europeans smoke less, especially those who enjoy a favorable socioeconomic status and received a good education, but they are a lot less exposed to passive smoking than 10 years ago, according to the results of a large prospective study published in the European Respiratory Journal (European Respiratory Journal, ERJ).

Several deaths avoided in the future ...

Nevertheless smoking continues to make many victims and the prospects are not reassuring. Experts estimate indeed with 1.3 billion smokers in the world, we may count over the next 50 years more than 450 million deaths from tobacco smoke.

However, the fight against this scourge is gradually bearing fruit. It is in any case the conclusion arrived at by the authors of a study of 9,000 people living in 12 European countries as well as Australia and the United States, interviewed the first time in the early 1990s and again 10 years later.

This international team shows that the number of active smokers in 10 years fell 15%, and non-smokers undergoing hand smoke are 40% fewer than a decade ago.

In fact, fashion and changing laws to the point that it is now very politically incorrect to smoke out your neighbor. A development that reflects the "European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS)," a survey conducted ten years apart from the same people surveyed in 29 research centers in 14 countries.

It thus reveals a dramatic reduction of passive smoking, which affected 40.6% of the study population between 1990 and 1994, but did not touch, 10 years later, 24% of people, a reduction of approximately 40%. Note that this significant decrease was more significant in the workplace and at home.

"This decrease is partly explained by the legislative measures taken in different countries in Europe, but also a change of attitude very clear," said the first author of the article, Christer Janson, University of Uppsala (Sweden). "People find themselves in a better state of mind, probably due to a broader awareness of the harmful effects of passive smoking," he adds.

Active smoking also down

In the case of active smoking, the figures are less dramatic, but still encouraging: 28.7% of those interviewed were still active smokers at the second interview, while they were 33.9% at the beginning of study. This difference of 5.2%, relative to the proportion of initial smoking and represents a relative decline in the number of smokers by 15%.

From a research center to another, the results are obviously heterogeneous, but the decrease in the prevalence of active smoking is nevertheless significant for 18 out of 29 centers. But one of them, that of Tartu in Estonia, has higher numbers in the second survey (43.9% against 30.7%).

"This increase could be related to significant socio-economic changes that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union, as well as strong marketing activities of the tobacco industry has deployed in these countries," the authors suggest.

As for the difference between men and women, the survey shows that the decrease of active smoking is smaller in women: prevalence, percentage decreased home 4.5, versus 7.5 in men.

One possible reason for this difference is the fear of weight gain, which would be more of a brake for the female population: women who are overweight (with a body mass index, the ratio of weight to the square of size, between 25 and 30) were twice as likely to quit smoking.

Age also plays a role: the decrease in active smoking is more pronounced in more than 30 years compared to younger.

Finally, various social factors undoubtedly influence the decline in smoking.

It is, for example, more difficult to quit smoking when you live or work with smokers. To live with another smoker at home reduces the chances of quitting by 55% and even increase the risk for a non-smoker to start smoking. People who work in a smoking environment have on their side a chance to stop 30% lower than individuals whose workplace is smoke-free, a figure that underscores the relevance of smoking bans in the workplace that 'Some countries have introduced.

Similarly, people with lower levels of education are less likely to have quit smoking than those who received a good education 30%.

"Strategies for tobacco prevention should therefore focus primarily people with low levels of education, less skilled jobs and low socio-economic status," said Christer Janson.

"Despite the encouraging reductions recorded in all populations, the trend in developed countries shows that about smoking, both active and passive, the trend is towards a more marked increase in social inequalities health, "concludes the Swedish researcher.