![]() ![]() In consequence, physicians try to avoid any professional action, concentrating on minimal intervention and, sporadically, supporting their patients with emotional encouragement to quit smoking. To date, too great a proportion of them have no adequate knowledge on smoking cessation methods and are poorly skilled in treating smokers. ![]() Another problem is the insufficient involvement of Polish physicians in the treatment of tobacco-dependent patients. Despite the continuing high prevalence of smoking, there is a lack of outpatient clinics offering support for smoking cessation. Unfortunately, access to professional treatment of tobacco dependence is rather limited in Poland. Therefore, apart from preventive actions aimed at reducing the uptake of smoking, tobacco-control efforts should focus on giving smokers professional help to quit. The majority of smokers try to quit repeatedly, cycling through multiple periods of relapse and remission. However, for most smokers, giving up the habit is a difficult process. A survey conducted for the Cancer Commission of the EU demonstrated that, in 1998, Poland had the most developed anti-smoking attitude among European countries, with willingness to quit declared by approximately 70% of smokers. It is estimated that only one anti-smoking campaign, "Let's Quit Smoking Together", conducted every year since 1991 on the annual "No Smoking Day" in November, resulted in approximately 2.5 million people quitting smoking in the years 1991–2003. Simultaneously, the rate of ex-smokers in the years 1990–1993 increased after one decade from 14% to 20%. In the general population of adult men, the rate of daily smokers decreased from 52% in 1990 to 39% in 2000, and in women from 26% to 24%, respectively, however, in the years 2002–2005 this trend has not been such pronounced, with 38% smokers among men and 25.6% among women. This was directly related to a gradual and steady decrease in tobacco consumption. In consequence, morbidity and mortality from tobacco declined although they still remain among the highest in the world, especially from lung cancer. ![]() The democratic transformation and national health campaigns, which have begun in Poland in the early 1990s, influenced positive changes in the lifestyle of Polish society. Finally, former smokers should be given more attention and periodic inquiries regarding the smoking habit are worthwhile.īefore Communism collapsed, Poland had the highest level of tobacco consumption in the world, which resulted in an extreme level of tobacco-related diseases. There is also a lack of general information on hazards related to tobacco and further anti-tobacco campaigns in media are needed. The majority of Polish smokers, including patients with tobacco-related diseases, attempt to quit without smoking cessation assistance, thus there is a need for a broader professional help for them. A small proportion of ex-smokers (3%) abstaining from cigarettes for longer than a year were not confident about their self-efficacy to sustain abstinence further. However, 41% of smokers prompted to quitting by personal health problems related to tobacco smoking did not see the link between the two. The most important reasons for quitting smoking were: general health concern (57%), personal health problems (32%) and social reasons (32%). Current smokers were more likely than former smokers to use some form of aid (p = 0.0001), mainly nicotine replacement therapy (68%). In the entire study population, 77% of smokers attempted to quit smoking on their own and a similar proportion of smokers (76%) used the cold turkey method when quitting. For the comparison of proportions, a chi-square test was used. ![]() Data on socio-demographics, tobacco use, quitting behaviors and reasons to quit from 618 subjects (385 ex- and 233 current smokers) who fulfilled these criteria were collected with the use of a questionnaire. Attempts at quitting were defined as abstaining from cigarettes for at least one day. Ex-smokers were defined as smoking previously at least one cigarette/day but who have no longer been smoking for at least one month. Individuals attending several health care units were screened for a history of quit attempts. MethodsĬonvenience sampling was used for the purpose of the study. We aimed to investigate how Poles, including the medically ill, cope with quitting cigarettes and what their motivations to quit are. Although morbidity and mortality from tobacco-related diseases are among the highest in the world, there is a lack of comprehensive cessation support for smokers. The majority of Polish smokers declare their will to quit smoking and many of them attempt to quit. ![]()
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