Abstract

VARONA PEREZ, Patricia et al. Alternative uses of the money spent in smoking and assessment of the risk for exposure to the environmental cigarette smoke. Rev Cubana Hig Epidemiol [online]. 2004, vol.42, n.2. ISSN 0253-1751.

The cost that smoking represents for the smoker, his family, the health institutions, and society has not been frequently dealt with in the fight against smoking. The objectives of this research were to identify how the smokers and non-smokers would spend the money the first devote to their addiction, as well as to describe the assessment of the damage produced by the environmental cigarette smoke in both groups. 3 cohorts were used, that included 1 104 persons matched by sex and age (± 5 years old). Among the most significant results, it was observed that food was the most used alternative for the money in both groups. Although 9 out of 10 of the surveyed considered as harmful the exposure to the environmental cigarette smoke, most of them were non-smokers. It was concluded that smokers assume their addictions aware of the fact that they renounce to other daily life activities, and that in the development of the current strategies against smoking in the country, the emphasis made on the social dimension of the smoking behavior is not enough.

Keywords : Alternatives to the use of the personal income; smokers; non-smokers; assessment of health damage.