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Current trends in tobacco smoking among 15-year-old adolescents in Poland in the background of 30 countries.

The international HBSC (Health
Behaviour in School-aged Children)
survey has enabled the comparison
of the patterns of changes with respect
to a number of health indicators
in adolescence.
The aim of the study was to show
international trends and how the
position of Poland in international
rankings of smoking prevalence has
changed since 2002.


Material and Methods
The study comprised 30 countries for which
data was available from four rounds
of HBSC survey (2002-2014). In total,
218 759 15-year-olds were surveyed,
including 7289 in Poland. For each
country a linear trend was estimated,
separately for boys and girls, to describe
changes in regular smoking
(daily or at least once a week).


Results
In the investigated period,
the percentage of 15-year-old boys
who smoke every week fell in Poland
from 26.2% to 15.5%, and the respective
percentage in girls decreased
from 17.2% to 14.7%. This means annual
decrease of 0.88% in boys and
0.24% in girls. In a combined international
sample, exactly the same as in
Poland rate of change was noted in
boys; however, a definitely faster in
girls (0.95% a year). The highest rate
of change was observed in Ukraine,
Germany and Norway, while the lowest
in Greece, Croatia and Israel. Poland’s
position in the international
ranking moved from 8th to 24th, providing
that the countries are listed
according to the growing percentage
of 15-year-olds of both genders who
smoke regularly.


Conclusions
Decrease in the
prevalence of smoking among Polish
adolescents, observed from the
beginning of this century, has been
undoubtedly a success related to the
implemented preventive measures.
However, attention should be drawn
to the strategies launched in countries
which achieved better results
than Poland, as well as to the reasons
of less positive trends among Polish girls.