Gc. Cesana et al., TRENDS OF SMOKING-HABITS IN NORTHERN ITALY (1986-1990) - THE WHO MONICA PROJECT IN AREA BRIANZA, ITALY, European journal of epidemiology, 11(3), 1995, pp. 251-258
The trends of age-gender specific prevalence of self-reported smoking
habits are presented, observed in two population surveys, performed in
1986-87 and 1989-90 in Area Brianza, a northern Italian industrialize
d district where a WHO MONICA Centre is located. Methods were internat
ionally standardized to obtain comparable data on two independent rand
om samples, each composed of 1,600 subjects, age-sex stratified and ex
tracted from the 25-64 year old residents. A closed question interview
was administered to identify smoking condition (smoker, past-smoker,
occasional smoker, never smoker), number of cigarettes consumed per da
y and attained educational level, categorized in compulsory school and
post-compulsory school. Serum thiocyanate was measured as a validatio
n index, using a cutpoint of > 100 mu mol l(-1) to detect false negati
ves. Trends in smoking prevalence are analyzed taking into account inf
luences of education in the presence of an anti-smoking policy that wa
s started in Italy toward the end of the eighties. Self-reported data,
confirmed by serum thiocyanate, show a consistent decline of smokers
among males (from 48 to 41%), more evident in younger age groups. In f
emales, smoking prevalence is stable (23-24%), although thiocyanate le
vels in the whole samples indicate a slight but significant tendency t
o decrease. Education demonstrates positive influences against smoking
, particularly in younger male classes. In females a crossover effect
is observable: in the second survey youngest group, education results
protective against smoking; the contrary is true in the older groups,
Our data, detailing what was initially recognized in previous Italian
surveys, may be useful to specify the directions of future preventive
actions.