Trends in cigarette smoking in 36 populations from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s: Findings from the WHO MONICA Project

Objectives. This report analyzes cigarette smoking over 10 years in populat ions in the World Health Organization (WHO) MONICA Project (to monitor tren ds and determinants of cardiovascular disease). Methods. Over 300 000 randomly selected subjects aged 25 to 64 years partic ipated in surveys conducted in geographically defined populations. Results. For men, smoking prevalence decreased by more than 5% in 16 of the 36 study populations, remained static in most others, but increased in Bei jing. Where prevalence decreased, this was largely due to higher proportion s of never smokers in the younger age groups rather than to smokers quittin g. Among women, smoking prevalence increased by more than 5% in 6 populatio ns and decreased by more than 5% in 9 populations. For women, smoking tende d to increase in populations with low prevalence and decrease in population s with higher prevalence; for men, the reverse pattern was observed. Conclusions. These data illustrate the evolution of the smoking epidemic in populations and provide the basis for targeted public health interventions to support the WHO priority for tobacco control.