[Biological and social predictors of smoking and perception of health]

While many studies focused on the serious inequalities in the biological (sex, age) and social (education, occupation, place of residence) predictors of smoking in the world, there is a scarcity of such studies with regard to Hungary. Despite increasing evidence for smoking-related morbidity and mortality, health perception of the Hungarian population is unreasonably optimistic. This study investigated biological and social predictors of smoking in relation to the smoking prevalence, as well as health perception in relation to current smoking and to age of onset of smoking. The study period lasted from 1990 to 2008. Individual data bases from 15 representative population based studies, collected in the above study period, served as empirical data for the investigation. The entire sample included 30,352 individuals. After pooling the databases, a meta-analysis was performed using GLIMMIX, GLM and logistic regression models. Our results revealed an increase in the prevalence of daily smoking between 1990 and 2008; the increase was substantially higher among women than men. Low education, unemployment and a high number of residents per households increased the likelihood of daily smoking; current smoking and early age of onset of smoking increased the likelihood of perceiving the health situation as poor. These smoking trends draw attention to the inefficiency of the previous tobacco policies and prevention practices; they also urge prompt professional and policy interventions in the global national tobacco strategy in Hungary.