Austrian students and smoking: prevalence and characteristics.(Report)

There is little data on the smoking behaviour of the population of Austria. The available information hardly goes beyond some figures on the number of regular smokers and the amount of cigarettes consumed per person per year. Equally, statutory anti-smoking measures in Austria lag considerably behind those of other countries, especially the U.S.

This study aims to provide first insight into the smoking behaviour, the reasons for smoking and the attitudes towards anti-smoking measures of Austrian university students. For that purpose, we interviewed 1,910 students of four Austrian universities. The results revealed that around 34% of the students smoke, compared with 50% who have never smoked and 16% who are former smokers. University affiliation and parental smoking have a significant impact on the students' smoking behaviour: Medical students smoke the least, while students with at least one parent who is a smoker smoke more often. The major reasons given for smoking are habit and relaxation, reasons for not smoking are mainly health and cost of cigarettes. Current statutory anti-smoking measures, such as bans on smoking in public buildings and workplaces, are well accepted by smokers and non-smokers, while potential measures, such as a statutory ban on smoking in restaurants and bars or an increase in social health insurance contributions for smokers, would--as expected--be accepted only by non-smokers. Interestingly, both smokers and non-smokers object to a future statutory ban on smoking in public.

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In Austria, as in many other countries, the impact of smoking on health has increasingly become a subject of public debate. The proportion of deaths attributed to smoking amounts to 12% (WHO-Tobacco control database). Thus each year approximately 9,000 persons in Austria die from the consequences of smoking. To address this problem, a number of measures have been taken to dissuade smokers from smoking; information campaigns have been carried out, prevention activities have been established and legal requirements, such as compulsory warning notices on cigarette packets, have been implemented. Smokers, however, not only compromise their own health, but also that of non-smokers in their vicinity. In Austria, approximately 1,000 deaths can be attributed to secondhand smoking each year (Kursten, 2006). Consequently, additional measures have been taken to protect non-smokers from cigarette smoke. These measures are primarily legal requirements, such as a ban on smoking in public buildings and workplaces. Compared with other European countries, such as Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, the anti-smoking measures regulated by law in Austria lag considerably behind. Although it has been implemented in many other EU countries, the current Austrian government refrained from implementing a statutory ban on smoking in restaurants. Further policy measures, such as the introduction of risk premiums in social health insurance for smokers, have been discussed from time to time but are far from being officially implemented.

Overall, there is little current data on the smoking behaviour of the Austrian population. The latest published in-depth smoker study for Austria dates back to 1995, when about 2,000 Austrians, aged from 15 years upwards, were interviewed about their smoking habits. The results showed that approximately 31% were regular cigarette smokers (Haidinger, Waldhoer, & Vutuc, 1998). The relevant WHO database (WHO-European Health For All database) does not provide more detailed or more current data either. According to the WHO database, 29% of the Austrian population aged from 15 years upwards smoked cigarettes in 2000. The average number of cigarettes smoked per person (smokers and non-smokers) per year amounted to 1,260. Apart from the lack of relevance to the present, there is no information available concerning details on smoking behaviour, such as the most frequent reasons for smoking or the approval of anti-smoking measures, although this information could be very useful regarding the successful implementation of anti-smoking measures.

The aim of the present study is to meet, partly, this lack of information. As it was not possible to conduct smoker studies for the whole Austrian population, we concentrated on one particular population group, namely university students, because students are considered to be future decision-makers and thus will have the potential to influence public policy. Therefore, this survey aims to provide concrete insight into the smoking behaviour of Austrian students in general, as well as the approval of current and potential statutory anti-smoking measures.

Comparable studies have already been conducted in other countries, especially in the US. In 2003, about 1,200 Texas college students were asked for their opinions of non-smoking policies on the campus, secondhand smoking and smoking in public places (Loukas, Garcia, & Gottlieb, 2006). The survey revealed that most college students appreciated smoke-free campus buildings. Amazingly, the study revealed that only 18% of the interviewees smoked, compared with 29% reported from a prior study based on a national sample of US college students (Rigotti, Lee, & Wechsler, 2000). Another large-scale smoker study among students of 30 Pacific Northwest colleges and universities revealed similarly low smoking rates (Thompson et al., 2007). Wechsler, Rigotti, Gledhill-Hoyt and Lee (1998) reported a considerable increase in smoking by college students between 1993 and 1997. They also revealed that over one-quarter of the student smokers started smoking after entering college. Biasco and Hartnett (2002) found that college students viewed smoking as a bad habit, although smokers generally do not accept losing their right to smoke in public places. In a survey conducted between 1999 and 2004 among 1,400 college students, Levinson et al. (2007) found that more than 50% denied being smokers despite currently smoking. Additionally, those who denied being 'smokers' were highly likely to say they were not addicted to nicotine. Other studies among US ...