[Smoking-attributable deaths in Spain in 1998]

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Preventive Medicine

Context:

• Smoking prevalence remained stable in Spain between 1993-1997.
• Age-adjusted death rates from smoking-related diseases were decreasing during the same period.
• A need existed to quantify the specific burden of smoking-attributable mortality in Spain for 1998.

Purpose:

• To estimate the total number of deaths attributable to smoking in Spain in 1998.
• To determine the proportion of deaths linked to tobacco use in males and females.
• To identify the primary causes of smoking-attributable mortality.

Summary:

• In 1998, an estimated 55,613 deaths in Spain were attributed to smoking.
• Approximately one in four male deaths and one in forty female deaths were linked to tobacco.
• Lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, and stroke accounted for two-thirds of these deaths.

Impact:

• Smoking represents a substantial and avoidable cause of mortality in Spain.
• The findings underscore the critical need for continued tobacco control interventions.
• Smoking-attributable mortality may be on an increasing trend, necessitating urgent public health action.