Cigarette Smoking and Respiratory System Diseases in Adolescents

Respiratory system diseases are common in youngsters, smoking being one of the main cause of them. In this article, results are presented of a survey-type study on smoking and respiratory malady conducted in 3108 high school students from the Mazovian Region in Poland. The questionnaire made for this study contained questions concerning the health status, chronic diseases, and the cigarette smoking habit. The subjects were high school student aged 15-19. Overall, 1694 males and 1414 females were enrolled in the study. Regarding males, 66.4 % of them were non-smokers, 18.1 % smoked up to 20 cigarettes daily, and 15.5 % smokedmore than 20 cigarettes daily; 12.5 % of all smokers smoked longer than one year. Overall, 38.5 % of males reported symptoms of chronic bronchitis. When stratified by the smoking habit, chronic bronchitis was reported by 21 % of non-smokers and 71 % of all smokers. Regarding females, 77 % of them were non-smokers, 16 % smoked up to 20 cigarettes daily, and 7 % more than 20 cigarettes daily; 8 % of all smokers smoked longer than one year. Overall, 35 % females reported symptoms of chronic bronchitis. When stratified by the smoking habit, chronic bronchitis was reported by 23 % of non-smokers and 75 % of smokers. Bronchial asthma was reported by 22 (0.7 %) subjects, none of them was a smoker. In conclusion, males more often than females smoked cigarettes. The number of persons complaining of symptoms of chronic bronchitis was markedly higher in the group of smokers. The study shows that smoking is a key cause of chronic bronchitis in adolescents. That implies a need for enhanced educational activity on the adverse effects of smoking and undertaking active anti-smoking campaigns at the level of high school.