OBJECTIVES: Smoking is an important risk factor leading to many diseases, which brings substantial healthcare costs as well as indirect costs due to decreased productivity. This article aims to quantify the social costs of smoking in the Czech Republic in 2019. METHODS: The prevalence-based, cost-of-illness approach is used, which assesses the costs as the sum of direct (healthcare) costs and indirect costs (productivity losses due to mortality and morbidity). The costs of healthcare utilization and pharmacotherapy in direct costs, and the costs of absenteeism, presenteeism, and premature mortality in indirect costs, are included. RESULTS: Total costs of smoking in the Czech Republic in 2019 are estimated as 2110.6 million EUR (0.94% of GDP). Direct costs amounted to 537.0 million EUR (2.9% of health expenditures in 2019) and indirect costs were 1573.6 million EUR, mainly driven by the costs of premature mortality (1062.5 million EUR). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the declining trend in the prevalence of smoking in the Czech Republic, the associated costs are considerable. Investments into strategies to reduce smoking continue to be needed.

• Keywords
• I12, I18,
• MeSH
• Absenteeism MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Smoking * economics   epidemiology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Health Care Costs * statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Cost of Illness * MeSH
• Mortality, Premature MeSH
• Presenteeism economics   statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Prevalence MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Health Expenditures * statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czech Republic epidemiology   MeSH

BACKGROUND: Many studies have examined the socioeconomic variations in smoking and quitting rates across the European region; however, data from Central and East European countries, where the tobacco burden is especially high, are sparse. This study aimed to assess the patterns in current and past smoking prevalence based on cross-sectional data from a Central European urban population sample. METHODS: Data from 2160 respondents aged 25-64 years in Brno, Czech Republic were collected in 2013-2014 using the Czech post-MONICA survey questionnaire to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, including smoking status. The age- and sex-stratified randomized sample was drawn using health insurance registries. Descriptive statistics and quit ratios were calculated, and chi-square and multivariate logistic analyses conducted to examine relationships between current and past smoking and demographic (age, gender, marital status) and socioeconomic variables (education, income, occupation). RESULTS: The prevalence of current and past smoking was 23.6 and 31.3 % among men and 20.5 and 23.2 % among women, respectively. Education reliably predicted smoking and quitting rates in both genders. Among men, being unemployed was associated with greater odds of smoking (OR 3.6; 1.6-8.1) and lower likelihood of quitting (OR 0.2: 0.1-0.6); the likelihood of quitting also increased with age (OR 1.8; 1.2-2.8). Among women, marital status (being married) decreased the odds of current smoking (OR 0.6; 0.4-0.9) and increased the odds of quitting (OR 2.2; 1.2-3.9). Quit ratios were the lowest in the youngest age group (25-34 years) where quitting was more strongly associated with middle income (OR 2.7; 95 % CI 1.2-5.9) than with higher education (OR 2.9; 95 % CI 0.9-8.2). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to increase cessation rates and reduce smoking prevalence need to be gender-specific and carefully tailored to the needs of the disadvantaged groups of the population, especially the less well-off young adults. Future studies should examine the equity impact of the tobacco control policies and be inclusive of the Central and East European countries.

• Keywords
• Central and Eastern Europe, Cross-sectional survey, Inequalities, Smoking cessation, Socioeconomic status, Tobacco,
• MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Cardiovascular Diseases epidemiology   MeSH
• Smoking epidemiology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Urban Population MeSH
• Smoking Cessation statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Prevalence MeSH
• Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
• Risk Factors MeSH
• Sex Factors MeSH
• Socioeconomic Factors MeSH
• Age Factors MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czech Republic epidemiology   MeSH