Large increase in female smokers

Cigarette smoking among women has shot up to the extent that middle-aged women nowadays puff away more than men, a study shows.

The survey also shows that smoking is significantly higher among the unemployed and that smoking is still an integral part of Maltese life.

The study - "Smoking Trends Across Three Generations" - was carried out by Charlotte Sant Portanier, under the supervision of senior lecturer Maryanne Sant Fournier and consultant respiratory physician Stephen Montefort. Sixty-seven per cent of the sample of 600 responded to the survey.

According to Dr Montefort, the study showed that much still needed to be done in the field of health education as many still found it difficult to kick the smoking habit.

Thirty-five per cent of men and 21 per cent of women surveyed said they were regular smokers.

Whereas the number of male smokers dropped from around 40 per cent in 1985 to 35 per cent, prevalence of cigarette smoking among women doubled from 10.2 per cent to 21 per cent, the study shows.

This was most apparent in the 40- to 45-year-old segment where women did not only outnumber men smokers but they also smoked more cigarettes per day.

This gender difference was reflected in the national cancer register where carcinomas of trachea, bronchus and lung, which used to have a male to female ratio of 94:5 in 1987 has now increased to 85:19.

Dr Montefort said this confirmed that women seemed to be more susceptible to the induction of malignant processes of smoking.

The study showed that educational campaigns may be having an impact on the professional class since none of the respondents that fell into this category were smokers but no fewer than 40 per cent of this sub-group were ex-smokers.

Smokers across the three studied groups said they started smoking mostly due to peer pressure.

A minority in each group said they had started smoking because they wanted to emulate a family member, while 14 per cent of the 16- to 21-year-olds and seven per cent of the 60- to 65-year-olds started smoking to impart a "cool" image.

None of the participants felt that cigarette advertising persuaded them in any way to start smoking, though Dr Montefort said the message could be too subtle for them to notice.

The survey showed that smokers tended to start smoking in the morning but this became more pronounced in the older age groups.

A total of 44 per cent of the 16- to 21-year-olds tried to stop smoking, while 73.2 per cent and 82.8 per cent of the two older age groups tried even harder.

The smokers were more likely to have a morning cough on most days, experience wheezing in the last year and shortness of breath on moderate exertion.

Nineteen per cent of smokers across the three age groups said they suffered from asthma, 29 per cent from ischaemic heart disease, while 16 per cent of smokers were diabetics.

In the younger generation (16- to 21-year-olds), 43.6 per cent of men smoked, compared with 20 per cent of women, while in the middle-aged (40 to 45) segment, 32.7 per cent of men and 36.5 per cent of women smoked.

On the other hand, in the oldest age group (60 to 65), 28.1 per cent of men smoked regularly, way above the 6.5 per cent of women.

In the 40- to 45-year-old age group, there was a larger number of heavy smokers with only 16.7 per cent of men smokers and 21.7 per cent of women smokers having one to five cigarettes per day.

Over 22.2 per cent of men and 30.4 per cent of women consumed 11 to 20 cigarettes a day and the majority of 40 cigarette plus per day smokers were women, at 13 per cent, against 5.6 per cent of men smokers in this age group.

The study revealed that a very small minority seek medical advice to stop smoking utilising pharmaceutical means or psychological support.

However, there seem to be more attempts at stopping smoking with increasing age and an associated increase in success at kicking the habit. Although women tended to try more often to stop smoking, men were often more successful.