Smoking differences between employees in faculties of the University of Tartu, Estonia, and changes during the country's transition

Simo Näyhä,Rauno Heikkinen,Jana Kivastik,Peet-Henn Kingisepp

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-153

Abstract

BackgroundA previous study found marked differences in smoking between employees in various university faculties in Tartu, Estonia, soon after the disruption of communism. The present study was conducted to see whether such differences still exist and how the patterns had changed during the country's first transitional decade.MethodsAll employees at the University of Tartu (UT) were surveyed for smoking habits by means of a questionnaire in 1992 and 2003. The present paper is based on respondents whose faculty or workplace was known (1390 people in 1992, 1790 in 2003). Smoking differences were assessed in terms of regression-based adjusted figures.ResultsWhile 20% of the male employees smoked daily in 1992, 13% did so in 2003, the figures for females being 10% and 7%, respectively. The prevalence of men's daily smoking varied between faculties and other workplaces in the range 4-30% in 1992, and 0-24% in 2003, with corresponding ranges of 3-21% and 0-10% among females. Men in the medical faculty in both surveys, and those in the faculty of philosophy in the second survey showed higher rates than men in most other faculties, as did women in the faculty of law in the first survey and those in the faculty of philosophy in the second. The figures were usually low in the faculties of sports & exercise, physics & chemistry and mathematics. The sex pattern was reversed in the faculty of law and also in that of economics, where the women smoked more than the men.ConclusionsEven in this low-smoking academic community, wide smoking differences existed between the faculties and other workplaces. Faculties where physical or mental performance is of prime importance are leading the way towards a smoke-free community, while men in the faculty of philosophy and, paradoxically, men in the medical faculty are lagging behind. The reversed sex ratio in the faculties of law and economics may indicate women's intensified drive for equality in this transitional society. We assume that different professional cultures may introduce variations in smoking patterns, thereby modifying the course of the smoking epidemic.

Highlights

A previous study found marked differences in smoking between employees in various university faculties in Tartu, Estonia, soon after the disruption of communism
Even in this low-smoking academic community, wide smoking differences existed between the faculties and other workplaces
We surveyed the University of Tartu (UT) staff at the same time [5] and found the men’s smoking rates to be as low as 20%, they varied widely from one faculty to another. This led us to the hypothesis that the declining phase of the smoking epidemic among this highly educated community is at a very advanced point, but the course of the epidemic is likely to be affected by http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/153 differing professional cultures and may perhaps be modified by concurrent changes in society. In this re-survey conducted after Estonia’s first transitional decade we show that smoking rates among the UT staff have further declined and that differences still exist between the faculties which are not entirely dissimilar to the previous patterns

Summary

Introduction

A previous study found marked differences in smoking between employees in various university faculties in Tartu, Estonia, soon after the disruption of communism. The present study was conducted to see whether such differences still exist and how the patterns had changed during the country’s first transitional decade. Lynch [1], for example, found low smoking rates among employees in both medical. Reported low rates among employees in a university where no medical faculty existed. The low prevalence of smoking among the educated people is well-known nowadays [3,4], but few studies have looked for variations within educated communities such as universities. We conducted a smoking survey in the University of Tartu (UT), Estonia, soon after the disruption of communism (1992) and found low but still widely

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