Perception of Harmfulness of Various Tobacco Products and E-Cigarettes in Poland: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Perceptions of the harmfulness of tobacco products may be a determinant of smoking behaviors. This study aimed to: (1) assess the perception of harmfulness of various tobacco products and e-cigarettes in Poland as well as (2) to assess the awareness of the health effects of using tobacco and e-cigarettes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2019 with a nationally representative sample of 1011 individuals aged 15 and over. In the studied group, 22.3% were smokers. Smokeless tobacco was most likely to be perceived as less harmful than cigarettes (25%), followed by water pipe (24.5%), heated tobacco products (22%), e-cigarettes (21.6%), slim cigarettes (17.1%), flavored cigarettes (except menthol ones) (16.1%), menthol cigarettes (15.6%) and cigarillos (12.6%). In this study, 10% of respondents denied that smoking causes serious diseases. Most of the respondents (88.9%) were aware that smoking causes lung cancer (88.9%), but only 70.4% were aware that smoking causes stroke. Smokers compared to non-smokers were less likely to declare that smoking causes a stroke (OR: 0.43, 95%CI: 0.31–0.59; p < 0.001) or myocardial infarction (OR: 0.41, 95%CI: 0.29–0.60; p < 0.001). There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the perception of harmfulness of various tobacco products and e-cigarettes by gender, age, or occupational status.

Awareness of Tobacco-Related Diseases among Adults in Poland: A 2022 Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey

“…To the authors' best knowledge, this is the most up-to-date study on the attitudes towards tobacco-related diseases among adults in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to nationally representative data from 2019 (before the pandemic) [22], we observed a marked increase in public awareness of tobacco-related diseases among adults in Poland. Lung cancer and COPD were the most recognized tobacco-related diseases recognized by the participants.…”

“…The public awareness of tobacco-related diseases in Poland is constantly increasing [18,22]. Between 2016 and 2019, the percentage of Polish inhabitants that were aware that smoking causes lung cancer has increased from 87.4% to 88.9% [18,22].…”

“…The public awareness of tobacco-related diseases in Poland is constantly increasing [18,22]. Between 2016 and 2019, the percentage of Polish inhabitants that were aware that smoking causes lung cancer has increased from 87.4% to 88.9% [18,22]. An even greater increase was obtained in the case of awareness of smoking as a risk factor for stroke-from 61.0% in 2016 to 70.4% in 2019 [18,22].…”

“…Between 2016 and 2019, the percentage of Polish inhabitants that were aware that smoking causes lung cancer has increased from 87.4% to 88.9% [18,22]. An even greater increase was obtained in the case of awareness of smoking as a risk factor for stroke-from 61.0% in 2016 to 70.4% in 2019 [18,22]. Despite the significant improvement in public awareness of tobacco-related diseases (mostly due to educational activities and changes in lifestyle), there are still significant gaps in public knowledge about the health effects of tobacco use.…”

Is electronic cigarette use a risk factor for stroke? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Totally, 1697 articles were retrieved from 3 databases according to the search strategy. After further screening according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 6 articles [11][12][13][14][15][16] of cross-sectional studies were finally included (Figure 1). There were 1134896 participants in the 6 included studies (Table 1).…”