Smoking prevalence in Poland at the background of European Union countries

Smoking prevalence in Europe is worth analyzing in order to observe exposure of population to tobacco smoke, what is informative and  mportant from the public health point of view. Aim of the paper was to compare smoking prevalence between European Union countries, with the special attention to Poland. The analysis was conducted separately by age, sex and smoking categories. Results part contains systematic review of the 2002 data for Poland at the background of the rest of the EU countries. Presented analysis shows past and present state of tobacco epidemics in Poland and is a good indicator of tobacco-related health threats in Polish population. Discussion part contains between others methodological considerations on how to read the smoking prevalence analysis results to avoid producing misleading message.

Smoking prevalence in Europe is worth analyzing in order to observe exposure of population to tobacco smoke, what is informative and  mportant from the public health point of view. Aim of the paper was to compare smoking prevalence between European Union countries, with the special attention to Poland. The analysis was conducted separately by age, sex and smoking categories. Results part contains systematic review of the 2002 data for Poland at the background of the rest of the EU countries. Presented analysis shows past and present state of tobacco epidemics in Poland and is a good indicator of tobacco-related health threats in Polish population. Discussion part contains between others methodological considerations on how to read the smoking prevalence analysis results to avoid producing misleading message.