Tackshs

The purpose of the WP3 is to conduct a cross-sectional survey in 12 strategically selected European countries on smoking with a focus on secondhand tobacco smoke and electronic cigarettes use, as also selected in WP2. Selected countries are: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the UK, representing geographical, legislative and cultural variations across the EU. Moreover, the selection includes the 7 most populated EU MS and, among the less populated MS, middle-income countries were prioritised. In each country we will enroll a sample of individuals representative of the general population aged 15 years or more.

In the first stage, the primary unit of selection is a geographic area or voting centre. In the second stage, households or municipalities are selected. In the last stage, respondents are chosen randomly to be representative of the population in terms of sex, age, geographic area and socioeconomic characteristics (working status, occupation and income). Alternatively, a quota method for the selection of the entire sample, stratifying the population according to selected variables including age, sex and geographic area and/or occupation, is used to obtain a representative sample of the country’s population. We have developed a standard questionnaire that will be used in each European country.

Besides a final report summarising the main findings of the overall study, several manuscripts will be prepared to be promptly submitted to peer-reviewed journals. At least 4 papers will be produced within WP3. Moreover, survey data will contribute to estimate the secondhand tobacco smoke attributable mortality and morbidity in Europe (WP9), and to quantify the burden in Europe associated to the exposure to emissions of ENDS (WP7 and WP8).

WP3 is developed by Instituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri (IRCCS).