Who Smokes in Europe? Data From 12 European Countries in the TackSHS Survey (2017–2018)

• Published in: Journal of epidemiology Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 145 - 151
• Main Authors: Gallus, Silvano, Lugo, Alessandra, Liu, Xiaoqiu, Behrakis, Panagiotis, Boffi, Roberto, Bosetti, Cristina, Carreras, Giulia, Chatenoud, Liliane, Clancy, Luke, Continente, Xavier, Dobson, Ruaraidh, Effertz, Tobias, Filippidis, Filippos T., Fu, Marcela, Geshanova, Gergana, Gorini, Giuseppe, Keogan, Sheila, Ivanov, Hristo, Lopez, María J., Lopez-Nicolas, Angel, Precioso, José, Przewozniak, Krzysztof, Radu-Loghin, Cornel, Ruprecht, Ario, Semple, Sean, Soriano, Joan B., Starchenko, Polina, Trapero-Bertran, Marta, Tigova, Olena, Tzortzi, Anna S., Vardavas, Constantine, Vyzikidou, Vergina K., Colombo, Paolo, Fernandez, Esteve
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Japan Epidemiological Association 05.02.2021
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; cigarette smoking; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; cross-sectional study; europe; Europe - epidemiology; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Polls & surveys; Prevalence; Public Health; Smokers - statistics & numerical data; Smoking; Smoking - epidemiology; smoking prevalence; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomics; Statistical Data; survey; tackshs; Tobacco; Tobacco smoking; Young Adult; Europe; Bulgaria; Italy; cigarette smoking; smoking prevalence; Europe; survey; cross-sectional study; tobacco; TackSHS
• ISSN: 0917-5040; 1349-9092
• DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20190344

Population data on tobacco use and its determinants require continuous monitoring and careful inter-country comparison. We aimed to provide the most up-to-date estimates on tobacco smoking from a large cross-sectional survey, conducted in selected European countries. Within the TackSHS Project, a face-to-face survey on smoking was conducted in 2017-2018 in 12 countries: Bulgaria, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain, representing around 80% of the 432 million European Union (EU) adult population. In each country, a representative sample of around 1,000 subjects aged 15 years and older was interviewed, for a total of 11,902 participants. Overall, 25.9% of participants were current smokers (31.0% of men and 21.2% of women, P < 0.001), while 16.5% were former smokers. Smoking prevalence ranged from 18.9% in Italy to 37.0% in Bulgaria. It decreased with increasing age (compared to <45, multivariable odds ratio [OR] for ≥65 year, 0.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.27-0.36), level of education (OR for low vs high, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.17-1.48) and self-rated household economic level (OR for low vs high, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.74-2.42). The same patterns were found in both sexes. These smoking prevalence estimates represent the most up-to-date evidence in Europe. From them, it can be derived that there are more than 112 million current smokers in the EU-28. Lower socio-economic status is a major determinant of smoking habit in both sexes.