IRELAND HAS become complacent about its smoking cessation achievements, with evidence that advice on giving up smoking was offered to just half of smokers who were seen by a primary care health professional, a report to be published today has found.
The analysis of data from the recent SLÁN national survey of Lifestyle Attitudes and Nutrition by the Division of Population Health Science at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) confirms that a previous downward trend in smoking rates has stalled.
Researchers, led by Prof Ruairí Brugha of RCSI, report smoking rates higher than the national average of 29 per cent in a number of occupational health groups. They found a particularly high rate of smoking in 18-29 year old women in social class 5 and 6 which, at 56 per cent, is double the rate found among women in the same age group in social classes 1 and 2.
Commenting on the relative lack of access to smoking prevention programmes in the country, Prof Brugha said, “a high percentage of smokers, at 72 per cent, who were interviewed in 2007 had attended a GP in the previous year, while only 38 per cent of smokers reported that a doctor or health professional had discussed ways of giving up smoking with them”.
Doctors and other primary care providers need to be supported in their efforts to help patients stop smoking, he said. “Health service managers need to talk to GPs and other primary care providers to identify their constraints and what support they need to more actively promote smoking cessation among their patients,” he said.
The SLÁN findings are based on face-to-face interviews with 10,364 randomly selected adults throughout the Republic. It was carried out by researchers from RCSI, ESRI, NUI Galway and University College Cork in 2007. It found that smoking was more common among younger adults. There was a strong association between mental health and smoking, with smokers being two to three times more likely to have a generalised anxiety disorder.
There were fewer smokers in the general population, at 29 per cent, than among those who were unemployed (49 per cent) and the 44 per cent of smokers who had a long-term disability.
An analysis of occupational patterns showed a relatively high rate of smoking among men who were plant or machine operators and those who worked in crafts or related trades. “Unlike socio-economic categories, occupational groups are often visible or easily identifiable sub-groups, which could be targeted with smoking cessation interventions,” the study notes.
It calls on the Government to use price and taxation measures to control tobacco use, citing evidence from the World Bank that lower income groups and young people are most sensitive to cigarette price increases.
“The optimal direction for Ireland to take now is to shift the cost-benefit balance of smoking, especially among those who are most vulnerable. Such a strategy could be cost neutral by increasing revenue through large price increases in the region of 25-30 per cent for a packet of cigarettes, signalled well in advance of such a change.
“An amount equivalent to the increase in revenue could then be invested in prevention and quitting interventions, tailored and targeted to those at higher risk of starting smoking and least likely to otherwise quit,” the analysis concludes.