Brand Awareness and Access to Cigarettes among Children 8-12 Years Old in the Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to assess smoking behaviour, knowledge of cigarette brands and access to cigarettes among children 8-12 years old in the Czech Republic. METHOD: Between 2009 and 2012, a cross sectional survey was conducted among 4,439 children aged 8-12 years attending 51 primary schools in Prague and Central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Data including age, gender, ever smoking, parental and sibling smoking, knowledge of cigarette brands, sources of cigarettes, and smoking frequency were collected. RESULTS: Fifty nine percent of all children could name one or more cigarette brands, 62.8% of boys and 55.3% of girls (p<0.01). The most well-known brands were Marlboro and the local brand Petra. Marlboro was better known among boys, while Petra was more known among girls. Children whose parents smoke showed higher brand awareness than children with non-smoking parents, 72.5% and 45.6%, respectively (p<0.001), and 76.4% of children reported one or more possible sources where to obtain cigarettes. Nearly one quarter (23.3%) of children had ever tried cigarettes, water pipe, cigars, or marijuana. Nearly half of all children (43.1%) reported that they had obtained their first cigarette from a relative or at home, and the second most frequent source were their peers (22.8%). Only 3.9% of children reported that they had purchased their first cigarettes. Relatives were the main source of cigarettes among children that reported smoking more than once. CONCLUSIONS: The high level of cigarette brand awareness and ever smoking provide evidence that tobacco control policies in the Czech Republic do not adequately protect children. Tougher legislation and effective strategies in accordance with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are therefore required to better protect children from harmful effects of smoking and the influence of tobacco industry in the Czech Republic.

[Centres for Tobacco-Dependent in the Czech Republic in 2012: overview and economy]. / Centra pro závislé na tabáku v Ceské republice v roce 2012: prehled, ekonomika.

BACKGROUND: Since 2005, in the Czech Republic the Centres for Tobacco-Dependent are being established at hospitals. METHODS: Evaluation of the activity of these 37 centres in 2012, economic analysis of treatment costs and assessment of the cost of life year gained (LYG). RESULTS: Most of the centres (26 of 37) are based at pulmonary clinics with opening hours for smokers: on average 7 hours/week. Treatment codes 25501 and 25503 are used at 28 centres. Entry visit usually takes on average 61 minutes, follow-up visits 22 minutes. Nicotine replacement therapy and varenicline are indicated in all centres, but only 14 centres use bupropion. Virtually all centres use links to other clinical disciplines, about 10.5 % of patients are sent to other departments. The most common barriers for wider activity are insufficient salaries and staffing. In 2012, the Centre for Tobacco-Dependent at the 3rd Medical Department, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and the General University Hospital treated 430 patients for the price of 3792 CZK per treated patient ( 150 Euro), respectively, with 38 % success rate for the price of 10,003 CZK per abstinent patient ( 400 Euro), or for 1,334 CZK per LYG ( 50 Euro/LYG). CONCLUSION: In the future it would be good to improve working conditions in centres and to take advantage of their potential for the indispensable, effective and highly cost-effective treatment.

Smokers with intracranial aneurysms who underwent neurosurgical or endovascular treatment have not stopped smoking one year after surgery.

Smoking increases the risk of forming, growing, and rupture of intracranial aneurysms. We retrospectively reviewed patients with intracranial aneurysms treated by neurosurgical or endovascular treatment--154 patients (45 men, 109 women, 15 to 62 years, average 46.3 years, CI +/- 1.72). We found 74% (114/154) of smokers--80% (36/45) men and 71.6% (78/109) women, with the mean value of the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence 4.4 (CI +/- 0.40). The average age of smoking initiation was 18.2 years (CI +/- 0.66), the average period of smoking 26.8 years (CI +/- 2.13). The average number of cigarettes consumed daily was 18.2 (CI +/- 1.58). With statistical significance p < 0.05, the athero-index was lower in nonsmokers than smokers: 3.4 (CI +/- 0.56) vs. 4.5 (CI +/- 0.51). HDL cholesterol was higher in non-smokers than smokers: 1.6 mmol/L (CI +/- 0.25) vs. 1.4 (CI +/- 0.10), and triglycerides were higher in smokers than non-smokers: 1.3 mmol/l (CI +/- 0.16) vs. 1.9 (CI +/- 0.35). Forty-two per cent of smokers (48/114) were controlled one year after the treatment; 18.8% of them stopped smoking, 41.7% reduced smoking, and 39.6% continued to smoke as extensively as before. The prevalence of smoking in our sample was higher than in the Czech population (28.2%). Only 18.8% of controlled smokers were able to quit one year after the intervention.

Ecological and human health risk aspects of burning arsenic-rich coal.

The subject of the study was the ecological and human health consequences of environmental pollution from emissions arising from burning local coal with an arsenic content ranging from 900 to 1,500 g/tonne of dry substance. The first indication of environmental pollution by arsenic-containing emissions was the mass extinction of honeybee colonies. The neurotoxic and carcinogenic aspects of arsenic exposure were followed. On using a group diagnostics approach, significant hearing losses were detected in exposed children in both air and bone conduction audiometry at high frequency range (4,000 and 8,000 Hz, respectively). Exposure assessment of the local population of the Prievidza district, Central Slovakia, was based on biological monitoring. The criterion of higher exposure was arsenic content in hair exceeding concentrations of 3 microg/g of hair. In a 7.5-km radius of the exposed region, live about two-tenths of the district population who were considered as "exposed" and rest of the district served as the "reference" population. The subject of our analysis was a database of 1,503 non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) cases (756 in men and 747 in women) collected from 1977 to 1996 in the Prievidza district, Central Slovakia (population approximately 125,000). The age standardized incidence of NMSC (each confirmed by histological examination) in non-occupational settings ranged from 45.9 to 93.9 in men and from 34.6 to 81.4 in women. Analysis of our data demonstrates a positive correlation between human cumulative exposure to arsenic and incidence of NMSC.