Perceptions of the harmfulness of tobacco products may be a determinant of smoking behaviors. This study aimed to: (1) assess the perception of harmfulness of various tobacco products and e-cigarettes in Poland as well as (2) to assess the awareness of the health effects of using tobacco and e-cigarettes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2019 with a nationally representative sample of 1011 individuals aged 15 and over. In the studied group, 22.3% were smokers. Smokeless tobacco was most likely to be perceived as less harmful than cigarettes (25%), followed by water pipe (24.5%), heated tobacco products (22%), e-cigarettes (21.6%), slim cigarettes (17.1%), flavored cigarettes (except menthol ones) (16.1%), menthol cigarettes (15.6%) and cigarillos (12.6%). In this study, 10% of respondents denied that smoking causes serious diseases. Most of the respondents (88.9%) were aware that smoking causes lung cancer (88.9%), but only 70.4% were aware that smoking causes stroke. Smokers compared to non-smokers were less likely to declare that smoking causes a stroke (OR: 0.43, 95%CI: 0.31-0.59; p < 0.001) or myocardial infarction (OR: 0.41, 95%CI: 0.29-0.60; p < 0.001). There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the perception of harmfulness of various tobacco products and e-cigarettes by gender, age, or occupational status.
Keywords: Poland; harm perception; public health; smoking; tobacco; tobacco control.