Tobacco smoking: Health impact, prevalence, correlates and interventions

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite reductions in prevalence in recent years, tobacco smoking remains one of the main preventable causes of ill-health and premature death worldwide. This paper reviews the extent and nature of harms caused by smoking, the benefits of stopping, patterns of smoking, psychological, pharmacological and social factors that contribute to uptake and maintenance of smoking, the effectiveness of population and individual level interventions aimed at combatting tobacco smoking, and the effectiveness of methods used to reduce the harm caused by continued use of tobacco or nicotine in some form. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Smoking behaviour is maintained primarily by the positive and negative…

• CR
  Cancer Research UK

  Award: C1417/A22962
• MR
  Medical Research Council

  Award: MR/K023195/1
• EA
  Economic and Social Research Council

  Award: ES/G007489/1