[Tobacco smoking in small communes of Lodz province]

Tobacco smoking sill remains a dominating, single and variable risk factor of circulatory system diseases (CSD) morbidity and mortality. The population studies conducted over the last years in Poland makes the monitoring of CSD risk factors, including smoking frequency, possible, however mainly in urban populations. The purpose of the study was to determine the tobacco smoking frequency in rural population of Lodz province depending on such demographic-social features as: sex, age, marital status, education level, professional activity and income. The study, which is a part of the Multi-Center Representative Nationwide Health Survey of Population (WOBASZ), included 324 inhabitants of two randomly chosen, small (up to 8.000 inhabitants) communes in Lodz province - Zloczew and Ostrowek. The tobacco smoking frequency (regular and occasional) in the investigated group was 24.7%, among men--34.7%, among women--16.1%. Women who smoke cigarettes were usually aged under 34 whereas men-smokers were most frequently under 55. Regular smokers smoked on average 14.6 +/- 7.23 cigarettes per day (men constitute significantly larger statistical group than women). The average duration of regular smoking was 21.8 +/- 13.01 years. Persons who had never smoked constituted 62.3% of the investigated group (50.0% of men and 73.0% of women). Among the inhabitants of small communes of Lodz province, persons with a low level of education (vocational education) and higher (or incomplete university) education smoked most frequently. In the latter education-level category, only a small group of men smoked (0.15) and as many as ? of women. No statistically characteristic dependence between tobacco smoking and professional activity, education level, marital status or month income was found (although men-smokers were most frequently unemployed and least frequently farmers).