Epidemiology of smoking in the Hungarian population, based on national representative data

Abstract

Introduction Our study reviews published assessments of smoking prevalence rates on Hungarian adult representative samples. Aim To report the results of a national representative survey on the prevalence of smoking carried out in 2007 and to compare the results of the present survey with those of former studies. Methods The target population was the entire Hungarian population aged between 18 and 64. Net size of the sample was 2,710 persons. Data collection partly used face-to-face interviews and more sensitive issues were assessed by self-rating questionnaires. Results The 36.1% of the Hungarian adult population smoke cigarettes (29.9% on a daily basis), 40.6% of males and 31.7% of females smoke regularly (rates of daily smokers are 34.6% and 25.3%, respectively). Male gender, lower age, lower education, lower socio-economic status, and parental smoking were identified as risk factors for smoking. Conclusions Present results show higher prevalence rates among the heterogeneous results of previous years, while suggesting a slight increase of smoking at the same time. This tendency is unequivocally owing to the increase in smoking among women; in men, stagnating prevalence rates can be observed.