Abstract
BackgroundDespite increasing governmental anti-smoking measures, smoking prevalence remains at a high level in France.MethodsThe objectives of this panel study were (1) to estimate smoking prevalence in France, (2) to identify smokers' profiles according to their perceptions, attitudes and behaviour in relation to smoking cessation, (3) to determine predictive factors of quit attempts, and (4) to assess tobacco-related behaviours and their evolutions according to the changes in the smokers' environments. A representative sample of French population was defined using the quota method. The identified cohort of smokers was assessed, in terms of smoking behaviour, previous quit attempts, and intention to quit smoking.ResultsA response rate of 66% for the screening enabled to identify a representative sample of the French population (N = 3 889) comprising 809 current smokers (21%). A majority of current smokers (63%) had made an attempt to quit smoking. Main reasons for having made the last attempt were cost (44%), social pressure (39%), wish to improve physical fitness (36%), fear of a future smoking-related disease (24%), and weariness of smoking (21%). Few attempts (16%) were encouraged by a physician. In those who used some kind of support (38%), NRT was the mostly used. Relapse was triggered by craving (45%), anxiety/stress (34%), a significant life event (21), weight gain (18%), and irritability (16%). Depression was rarely quoted (5%). Forty percent of smokers declared they intended to quit smoking permanently. Main reasons were cost (65%), physical fitness improvement (53%), fear of a future smoking-related disease (43%), weariness of tobacco (34%), and social pressure (30%). Using a smoking cessation treatment was considered by 43% of smokers that intended to quit. Barriers to smoking cessation were mainly fear of increased stress (62%), irritability (51%), and anxiety (42%), enjoying smoking (41%), and weight concerns (33%).ConclusionSmoking prevalence and smoking cessation attempts rate were lower in this survey than in previous reports. Cost and social pressure were the main reasons for quitting smoking, maybe an effect of dramatic tax increases and smoking ban.
Highlights
Despite increasing governmental anti-smoking measures, smoking prevalence remains at a high level in France
The main reason for having made the last attempt to quit smoking was cost, mentioned by 44% of smokers, followed by social pressure (39%), the wish to improve physical fitness (36%), fear of a future smoking-related disease (24%), weariness of smoking (21%), and the existence of a pulmonary or cardiovascular condition (14%)
Competing numbers come from the European survey on tobacco performed in 2008 in a representative sample of subjects aged 15 or more, showing a 34.2% smoking prevalence in France, a 28.3% daily smoking prevalence, and a 22.1% ex-smoking prevalence [8]
Summary
Despite increasing governmental anti-smoking measures, smoking prevalence remains at a high level in France. Populationwide-interventions that can services, France ranked third on a tobacco control scale, behind England and Scotland [3]. This encouraging score was based on the existence of an official treatment policy, an officially identified person managing treatment service, a national quitline, a specialized and available treatment system with a network of tobacco treatment specialists[4], medications availability, and a package reimbursement. In France, tobacco use is estimated to cause every year about 60,000 premature deaths [5,6]. The ITC Four-Country survey has shown that at least 36% of smokers make a quit attempt in a given year [9]. Even though one can anticipate similar numbers in France, we haven’t found spontaneous quitting attempt rates from French reports
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