For nine in ten French people, tobacco is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease or stroke, but only two-thirds know that this risk exists with less than ten cigarettes a day, according to a survey carried out in 2019 by Public Health France.
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In addition, only
"one in four people was aware of an immediate increased cardiovascular risk in smokers"
, add the authors in the
Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin
(BEH) of the health agency, published Tuesday, January 5.
"There is no consumption threshold below which the risk is zero"
, we read in the BEH where this survey appeared, carried out among 5,074 adults aged 18 to 85 years living in metropolitan France.
A very small minority, 3.9% of those questioned, believe that
"tobacco is not at all a risk factor for cardiovascular disease or stroke"
.
"A significant margin for improvement"
People under 65 and those with a high level of education have a better knowledge of the link between tobacco and cardiovascular diseases and in particular the thresholds for the quantity and duration of consumption to be at risk.
The analysis shows that women, people aged 45 to 64, those with a level of education above the baccalaureate, ex-smokers, people who have received training in first aid and people who feel at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) or stroke had significantly better knowledge that smoking is a cardiovascular risk factor.
Regarding the quantity of tobacco smoked, nearly two-thirds of those questioned consider that the cardiovascular risk exists for less than ten cigarettes a day (32.9% between 1 and 5 cigarettes and 30.4% between five and ten cigarettes).
A third believe that it is necessary to smoke more than ten cigarettes to be at cardiovascular risk (19.1% between ten and twenty cigarettes and 13.8% more than twenty cigarettes).
A quarter of those surveyed knew that smoking, even for a short time (less than five years), could put you at an early risk of CVD.
In contrast, 28% believed that it was necessary to smoke over twenty years for this.
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"If the French population today seems to have a good level of knowledge of the link between smoking and cardiovascular disease, there is still a significant room for improvement"
, estimate the authors of the study.
They point out in particular
"an underestimation by the population of the low thresholds of dangerousness in quantity and in years of smoking"
.