The aim: To evaluate the prevalence and time trends of smoking habits among middle-aged Kaunas population during 20 years and its relation with sociodemographic status.
Material and methods: Four cross-sectional surveys were carried out according to the WHO MONICA protocol in 1983-1985, 1986-1987, 1992-1993, and 2001-2002. During these surveys, 2,450, 1,762, 1,238, and 1,404 persons aged 35-64 years, respectively, were screened. Data of the last survey were used to evaluate the relationship between smoking habits and sociodemografic status (educational level, occupation). Data of all four surveys were used to assess the prevalence of smoking habits among the Kaunas population aged 35-64 years and its trends during 20 years. Regular smoker was subject who smoked at least one cigarette per day. Prevalence rates for age group of 35-64 years were age-standardized using the European population as the standard.
Results: According to the results of the last survey, 41.4% of men and 11.3% of women were regular smokers. During the last twenty years the prevalence of regular smokers increased by 2.7-fold among women and didn't change among men. Age, educational level, occupation and age when starting smoking showed a strong relationship with the smoking habits among men. Education level didn't show any association with smoking habits among women. The lowest prevalence of the regular smoking was among men with a higher education (24.9%) and among professional workers (27.1%) as compared to those with a lowest education (44.6%, p<0.01) and workers (47.3%, p<0.001), respectively. Among all regular smokers, 65.2% of men started to smoke at age 16-21 years, and 52.3% of women - at age 22 years or more. During 20-year period the prevalence of never smokers decreased (beta=-0.95, p<0.05) and that of ex-smokers increased (beta=0.96, p<0.05) among women. No statistically significant trends in smoking habits were detected among men during the study period.
Conclusion: The prevalence of never smokers decreased and that of ex-smokers increased among women 2.7-fold while no significant changes in smoking habits were found among men during 20-year study period. The lowest prevalence of regular smokers was among men with higher education and among professional workers.