[How to decrease smoking among people? The experience of international anti-tobacco campaign Quit&Win in Poland in 2000-2006].

Findings imply the importance of smoking cessation at all ages, including those over the age of 65. Quitting reduces risks of dying from cardiovascular disease and several smoking-related cancers, improves mobility and quality of life among the elderly. Since 1994 all adult smokers over the world have been encouraged to quit by attending the Quit&Win contest, supported by WHO CINDI Program. The aim of our study was to analyze participation and effectiveness of quitting smoking among elderly (> or = 65 years) men and women in Poland. Data of Quit&Win contests from 2000 to 2006 in Poland among the elderly participants. One-year follow up survey of a random sample (640 respondents, response rate = 66%) in 2001. In Poland 508 elderly smokers have participated in Quit&Win from 2000 to 2006 (3.4% of 14.465 total number of participants). The oldest participants were more likely to be men than women (72% and 28% respectively), inhabitants of big cities than small towns or villages (66% and 34% respectively). Participants' history of smoking before the contest was as following: mean = 21 cigarettes/ day, higher consumption rates among elderly men than among elderly women (p < 0.05) and more years of smoking among men than among women (p < 0.001). The participants attended the contests sending press entry forms or printing entries mostly, but only 3% via the Internet. In one-year follow up the oldest participants were more likely than the younger participants: being the complete continuos abstains (p < 0.01), choosing the contest as a way of quitting (p < 0.001), having the support from family during their attempt to quit (p < 0.05). Attendance of the oldest smokers in Quit&Win is unsatisfied for organizers in Poland. To improve an access for the elderly the organizers, sponsors and media should maintain the traditional ways of entries distribution by newspapers and magazines. The Internet hasn't been popular so far among elderly people in Poland as a source of information and communication. Given the projected increase in the elderly population the medical and economic consequences of smoking will become a greater burden in the next decades. Therefore, focusing attention on cessation among the elderly is an immediate and urgent priority for public health professionals and physicians.