Cent Eur J Public Health 2010, 18(4):179-185 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3585

Correlates of Smoking among Polish Adults: Socioeconomic Status, Leisure Time Physical Activity and Alcohol Consumption among Polish Adults from Randomly Selected Regions

Donata Woitas-Ślubowska1, Elżbieta Hurnik2, Anna Skarpańska-Stejnborn1
1 University School of Physical Education in Poznań, The Branch Faculty of Physical Culture in Gorzów Wlkp., Poland
2 University School of Physical Education in Poznań, Computing and ITCentre, Poland

Aim: To determine the association between smoking status and leisure time physical activity (LTPA), alcohol consumption, and socioeconomic status (SES) among Polish adults.

Material and methods: 466 randomly selected men and women (aged 18-66 years) responded to an anonymous questionnaire regarding smoking, alcohol consumption, LTPA, and SES. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the association of smoking status with six socioeconomic measures, level of LTPA, and frequency and type of alcohol consumed. Smokers were defined as individuals smoking occasionally or daily.

Results: The odds of being smoker were 9 times (men) and 27 times (women) higher among respondents who drink alcohol several times/week or everyday in comparison to non-drinkers (p<0.0001 and p<0.0001). Among men with the elementary/vocational level of education the frequency of smoking was four times higher compared to those with the high educational attainment (p=0.007). Among women we observed that students were the most frequent smokers. Female students were almost three times more likely to smoke than non-professional women, and two times more likely than physical workers (p=0.018).

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that among randomly selected Polish man and women aged 18-66 smoking and alcohol consumption tended to cluster. These results imply that intervention strategies need to target multiple risk factors simultaneously. The highest risk of smoking was observed among low educated men, female students, and both men and women drinking alcohol several times a week or every day. Information on subgroups with the high risk of smoking will help in planning future preventive strategies.

Keywords: smoking, alcohol consumption, leisure time physical activity, socioeconomic status, adults

Received: September 24, 2009; Revised: September 6, 2010; Accepted: September 6, 2010; Published: December 1, 2010  Show citation

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Woitas-Ślubowska D, Hurnik E, Skarpańska-Stejnborn A. Correlates of Smoking among Polish Adults: Socioeconomic Status, Leisure Time Physical Activity and Alcohol Consumption among Polish Adults from Randomly Selected Regions. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2010;18(4):179-185. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3585. PubMed PMID: 21361098.
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