Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1)

Editorial - Clear relationship between smoking and lung cancer.

Drahoslava Hrubá

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):3-4 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.b0004  

This special issue of the Central European Journal of Public Health includes some new aspects of smoking. Toxicological methods evaluated and described variations in nicotine yields in particular cigarettes, and also large variability in lead and arsenic content in tobacco and cigarettes. These findings influence the level of smokers' exposure to harmful bioactive chemicals, which are associated with specific, direct health risks. Authors propose continual monitoring of levels of some important chemical compounds to improve more accurate exposure evaluation.

The Analysis of Tobacco Consumption in Croatia - Are We Successfully Facing the Epidemic?

Ivan Padjen, Marina Dabić, Tatjana Glivetić, Zrinka Biloglav, Dolores Biočina-Lukenda, Josip Lukenda

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):5-10 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3702  

Tobacco is the largest cause of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to analyse several health and economically related indicators of tobacco consumption: smoking prevalence, standardized death rates (SDRs) from lung cancer and the proportion of GDP spent on tobacco in Croatia and other transitional countries - the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The overall smoking prevalence in Croatia decreased by 5.2% during 1994-2005, more among females (-9.9%) than males (-0.3%). There is no significant difference in the smoking prevalence between Croatia (27.4%) and other countries. However, 33.8% of Croatian...

Factors Associated with Tobacco Smoking and the Belief about Weight Control Effect of Smoking among Hungarian Adolescents

Melinda Pénzes, Edit Czeglédi, Péter Balázs, Kristie L. Foley

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):11-17 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3726  

Introduction: The relationship between body weight and smoking has been well-documented among adult populations, but the data among youth are inconsistent. This study explores the relationship among social, behavioural, body weight-related factors and adolescent smoking while identifying factors associated with the belief that smoking controls weight. Materials and methods: Baseline data from a three-year, prospective cohort study started in 2009 in Hungary's six metropolitan cities. Randomly selected 6th and 9th grade students completed a self-administered questionnaire during the 2009-2010 school year (n=1445; 45% boys, mean age of...

What Limits the Effectiveness of School-based Anti-smoking Programmes?

Drahoslava Hrubá, Iva Žaloudíková

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):18-23 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3722  

Backround: It is generally accepted that living in families where there are smokers, children are stressed not only by the harmful physical exposure to second-hand and third-hand tobacco smoke, but also by the negative models of the adult relatives' behaviour, as relatives who smoke can inspire children to imitate this behaviour, influencing attitudes towards, and early experiments with smoking. In this paper, some of the most important results about influence of family smoking on the effects of the anti-smoking educational programme "Non-smoking Is Normal" are described. Methods: The school-based programme was created by medical and...

Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Absence from Work in Women in Niš, Serbia

Aleksandra Stanković, Maja Nikolić, Mirjana Aranđelović

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):24-28 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3701  

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke leads to very serious health effects, especially on the respiratory system. The objective of this paper was to estimate the influence of passive smoking on absence from work because of respiratory problems in women. The study sample consisted of 497 women aged 40-56 who live in an area with identical outdoor air pollution. Environmental tobacco smoke exposure was recorded in 346 women. Data about respiratory symptoms in women were entered into a structured questionnaire. Statistics tests showed no significant difference of living conditions, keeping pets, hereditary predisposition among women. The occurrence...

Household Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Respiratory Diseases among Children in Niš (Serbia)

Ljiljana Stošić, Suzana Milutinović, Konstansa Lazarević, Ljiljana M. Blagojević, Ljiljana Tadić

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):29-32 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3730  

The authors investigated the relationship between household environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and prevalence of respiratory symptoms and diseases as well as absenteeism related to respiratory illness in schoolchildren. The study sample consisted of 1,074 children aged 7-11 years from three primary schools in Niš (Serbia). ETS exposure was associated with wheezing (OR=1.48; 1.09-2.01), bronchitis (OR=1.66; 1.23-2.23), headache (OR=1.45; 1.08-1.95), and fatigue (OR=1.38; 1.02-1.85) in exposed children. The other risk factors with possible influences weren't assessed. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of physicians'...

Identifying Gender Differences among Romanian Non-smoking Junior High School Students

Lucia M. Lotrean, Hein De Vries

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):33-37 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3731  

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess gender differences regarding perceptions of smoking between Romanian non-smoking boys and girls, to facilitate the development of effective smoking prevention programmes. Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained in 2006 by means of written questionnaires among 981 non-smoking school students aged 13-14 years from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Results: The results reveal that girls were more convinced than boys that smoking would result in several positive outcomes such as helping them getting more attention and becoming easier part of the crowd. Moreover, girls declared lower self-efficacy...

Parental Education and Family Status - Association with Children's Cigarette Smoking

Iva Žaloudíková, Drahoslava Hrubá, Ibrahim Samara

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):38-44 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3652  

Background: Social influences are among the most important factors associated with children's and adolescents' smoking. Social norms in families, peer groups, professional and municipal communities influence the individuals ones by the process of socialization obtained mainly by interactions and observations. Especially social context of the home environment expressed by household smoking restriction serves as a socialization mechanism that dissuades from the using of tobacco. Parental anti-smoking socialization practices (their attitudes and knowledge about children smoking, discussion about smoking in appropriate quality and frequency, smoking...

Attitudes of Hungarian Dental Professionals to Tobacco Use and Cessation

Márk Antal, András Forster, Zsolt Zalai, Katalin Barabás, Christoph Ramseier, Katalin Nagy

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):45-49 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3733  

Smoking is the most preventable cause of death worldwide. The regularity of visits of patients to dental offices offers a valuable contact for health professionals and the healthcare system to initiate anti-smoking activity. However, these contacts remain unutilized and there is little interaction between doctor and patient with regard to prevention of smoking and its consequences. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current situation and attitudes towards smoking and giving up smoking among dental professionals. A survey was carried out in the sample consisting in total of 342 participants, 212 students of dentistry and 130 dentists. Students...

Smokers with Intracranial Aneurysms Who Underwent Neurosurgical or Endovascular Treatment Have Not Stopped Smoking One Year after Surgery

Kamila Zvolská, Eva Králíková, Vladimír Beneš, Jana Koblihová, Jiří Rameš, David Netuka

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):50-53 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3670  

Smoking increases the risk of forming, growing, and rupture of intracranial aneurysms. We retrospectively reviewed patients with intracranial aneurysms treated by neurosurgical or endovascular treatment - 154 patients (45 men, 109 women, 15 to 62 years, average 46.3 years, CI±1.72). We found 74% (114/154) of smokers - 80% (36/45) men and 71.6% (78/109) women, with the mean value of the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence 4.4 (CI±0.40). The average age of smoking initiation was 18.2 years (CI±0.66), the average period of smoking 26.8 years (CI±2.13). The average number of cigarettes consumed daily was 18.2 (CI±1.58)....

The Influence of Cigarette Smoke on the Selected Bronchoalveolar Cells in Experiment

Marta Hurbánková, Silvia Černá, Milan Beňo, Soňa Wimmerová, Štefánia Moricová

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):54-57 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3689  

The occurence of lung diseases (obstructive, malignant) resulting from smoking has an increasing tendency. The lung is the primary organ at risk from the effects of inhaled cigarette smoke and smoking has been implicated as a contributing factor to the causation of various respiratory diseases. The aim of presented work was to find out the subchronic effect of the 6-month exposure to cigarette smoke on the selected inflammatory and cytotoxic parameters of bronchoalveolar lavage in W rats and thus to contribute to understanding of the mechanism of action of tobacco smoke and/or path mechanism of lung injury developed after cigarette smoking. In special...

Variations in Nicotine Yields between Single Cigarettes

Maciej Ł. Goniewicz, Bartosz Koszowski, Jan Czogała, Tomasz Kuma, Michał Gawron, Leon Kośmider, Jakub Knysak, Andrzej Sobczak

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):58-61 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3721  

Introduction and Aims: It is beyond any doubt that nicotine yield in cigarettes as determined using standard ISO method bears almost no relation to smokers' actual intake. However, the ISO method is still in use in many countries where the government is responsible for controlling and monitoring cigarette quality. The aim of the study was to measure the nicotine yield in single cigarettes and to evaluate their statistical distribution among the same brand. Materials and methods: Nicotine yields were measured according to the ISO method in single cigarettes of the twenty most popular Polish brands of cigarettes. Results: Relative...

Determination of Lead and Arsenic in Tobacco and Cigarettes: an Important Issue of Public Health

Konstansa Lazarević, Dejan Nikolić, Ljiljana Stošić, Suzana Milutinović, Jelena Videnović, Dragan C. Bogdanović

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):62-66 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3728  

Contents of lead and arsenic were determined in 617 tobacco samples and 80 samples of cigarettes. The mean content of lead in tobacco was 0.93 µg/g (range 0.02-8.56 µg/g) and arsenic was 0.15 µg/g (range <0.02-2.04 µg/g). The mean content of lead in cigarettes was 1.26 µg/g (range 0.02-6.72 µg/g) and arsenic was 0.11 µg/g (range <0.02-0.71 µg/g). There was a large variability in lead and arsenic content among samples of tobacco and samples of cigarettes. Positive correlation between lead and arsenic contents in tobacco was found (r=0.22; p<0.0001). Based on our data and data from literature we...

Smoking Prevention Activities at the Third Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic

Dagmar Schneidrová, Tereza Kopřivová Herotová, Magdaléna Šustková

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):67 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3736  

Selected Aspects of Tobacco Control in Bulgaria: Policy Review

Patricia R. Loubeau

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):68-74 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3663  

This paper seeks to outline the challenges of tobacco consumption control in the transitional economy of Bulgaria. It focuses on issues of taxation, high unemployment, and smuggling while attempting to meet European Union (EU) requirements for tobacco control legislation that reduces smoking consumption. The issue of tobacco control is not a simple one and requires a multi-pronged approach. While Bulgaria has made some progress in adopting legislation, it needs to strengthen its efforts in terms of enforcement, stronger legislation and increased taxation of cigarettes.

Support for Population Level Tobacco Control Policies in Hungary

Edit Paulik, Ágnes Maróti-Nagy, László Nagymajtényi, Todd Rogers, Doug Easterling

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):75-80 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3716  

Background: Smoking is the leading, preventable risk factor for premature death and disability in Hungary. The objective of this paper was to assess the social acceptability of and the predictors of holding favourable attitudes toward tobacco control policies among the Hungarian population. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire-based study was carried out among individuals aged 16-70 years. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess whether support for the ten tobacco control policies varies as a function of age, sex, educational level, and smoking status. Results: The majority of the respondents supported the studied...

Comprehensive Tobacco Control Measures - the Overview of the Strategies Recommended by WHO

Adam Fronczak, Kinga Polańska, Bukola Usidame, Dorota Kaleta

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):81-86 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3710  

According to the World Health Organization, there are more than one billion smokers in the world, and tobacco is said to kill half of its users. The European Region of WHO, with only 15% of the world's population, faces nearly one third of the worldwide burden of tobacco related diseases. Millions of lives could be saved with effective and comprehensive tobacco control strategy. In response to this, the World Health Organization has offered a wide range of information and recommendations to governments, organizations, health-care professionals, and tobacco users and non-users worldwide. This paper is focusing on various activities that governments,...

Linking Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) Data to Tobacco Control Policy in Turkey - 2003 and 2009

Toker Ergüder, Halil Polat, Ceylan Arpad, Rula Nabil Khoury, Charles W. Warren, Juliette Lee, Veronica Lea

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):87-91 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3679  

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to use data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conducted in Turkey in 2003 and 2009 to examine changes in tobacco use and important tobacco control measures. Methods: The GYTS were conducted in grades 7-9 in 2003 and 7-10 in 2009 in Turkey. Data in this paper are limited to 13 to 15 year old students. A total of 15,957 students from 202 schools participated in 2003 and 5,054 students from 69 schools participated in 2009. The overall response rate was 92.1% in 2003 and 87.5% in 2009. Results: Between 2003 and 2009 current cigarette smoking did not change significantly for either boys...

Brazil to become world's largest smoke-free country.

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):66  

15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Singapore, 20-24 March 2012

Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(1):92