Smoking behavior of the population of Chuvashia on the results of dynamic observation

The purpose of the research is to study smoking behavior in Chuvashia (one of the regions of Russia) in dynamics from 2014 to 2019.

Material and methods. 2513 residents of the Chuvash Republic (1165 men and 1348 women) aged 15 to 92 years (average age - 43.0 ± 16.9 years) were interviewed anonymously. The questionnaire was used for the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), which is the standard for monitoring global tobacco use.

Results. In 2019, 19.9% of the respondents (36.7% among men and 5.4% among women) regularly used tobacco products. On average, they smoked more than 14 cigarettes a day, the average age at starting daily smoking was 17.8 years. 53.8% of smokers have sought medical help in the last year and 76.2% of them received advice from a health worker to quit smoking. In 2019, compared to 2014, the number of intermittent smokers and former daily smokers significantly decreased. The average age of starting smoking increased from 16.5 to 17,8 years (for women it decreased from 18 to 17.7 years). Men began to try to quit smoking more often, while women did it less often. Both received the advice of a health worker to quit smoking more often. The respondents were less likely to pay attention to information on cigarette packs about the dangers of smoking, especially women, and, as a result, fewer smokers of both sexes thought about quitting smoking. The positive tendencies include a significant decrease in secondhand smoke at home (14,8%) and work (10%), including secondhand smoke among pregnant and lactating women.

Conclusion. Over the past five years, the number of smokers in the Chuvash Republic has remained stable, which is associated with the state policy to combat tobacco consumption in Russia. However, a decrease in the proportion of the respondents who pay attention to information about the dangers of tobacco and who are less likely to think about abandoning tobacco smoking requires the search for new forms of prevention of smoking behavior among the residents of Chuvashia.