Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10(9), 4418-4431; doi:10.3390/ijerph10094418
Patterns of Smoking Prevalence among the Elderly in Europe
1
Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS – Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, 20156 Milan, Italy
2
Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
3
Section of Hygiene, Institute of Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
4
IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana,00163 Rome, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 28 June 2013 / Revised: 6 September 2013 / Accepted: 13 September 2013 / Published: 17 September 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tobacco Control in Vulnerable Population Groups)
Abstract
Scant information is available on determinants of smoking prevalence in the vulnerable population of the elderly, particularly in Europe. Therefore, we analyzed smoking patterns among older adults (≥65 years old), using data from a representative survey based on 3,071 elderly, conducted in 17 European countries in 2010, within the Pricing Policies And Control of Tobacco in Europe (PPACTE) project. Overall smoking prevalence in 17 European countries was 11.5% (15.3% in men and 8.6% in women). An inverse relation with level of education was observed among men, while no specific pattern was evident among women. Smoking prevalence was highest in eastern/central Europe for men (20.3%) and northern Europe for women (13.1%). In both sexes combined, smokers were more frequent in countries with low implementation of tobacco control activities (14.9%). Anti-tobacco campaigns and smoking cessation interventions specifically targeted to the elderly are urgently needed in Europe.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Lugo, A.; La Vecchia, C.; Boccia, S.; Murisic, B.; Gallus, S. Patterns of Smoking Prevalence among the Elderly in Europe. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10, 4418-4431.
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