Table 1.
Prevalence of Smoking in General Population and in Prison by Sex, Europe, 2012–2016
| First Author, Year (Reference No.) | Location | Study Population | Year Data Collected | In Prison, % | General Population,a % | Fold Increase | No. of Incarcerated Study Subjects | Prison Populationb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed Sex Studiesc | ||||||||
| Jaka, 2014 (51) | Albania | Study of health status | 2013 | 59.1 | 29.3 | 2.02 | 401 | 5,201 |
| Jacomet, 2016 (52) | France | Surveillance for infectious disease | 2013 | 83.8 | 24.7 | 3.39 | 357 | 72,796 |
| Ceelen, 2012 (53) | Netherlands | Study of health history | 2009 | 75.6 | 26.7 | 2.85 | 264 | 15,235 |
| Turan, 2015 (54) | Turkey | Persons with COPD | 2013 | 68.7 | 25.9d | 2.65 | 109 | 158,837 |
| Carnie, 2016 (41) | Scotland | 9 Scottish prisons | 2015 | 72.0 | 18.7e | 3.85 | Not specified | 7,611 |
| Studies of Men | ||||||||
| Singleton, 2003 (55); Jayes, 2016 (56) | England | 4 prisons with smoke-free wings | 1997 | 85.0 of remand 78.0 of sentenced | 23e | 3.39 | Not specified | 61,252 |
| Chariot, 2014 (57) | France | Fitness assessment while incarcerated | 2012 | 70.3f | 30.4g | 2.30 | 10,726 | 80,489 |
| Makris, 2012 (27) | Greece | 204 men in prison | 2010 | 75.5 | 55.7d | 1.36 | 204 | 10,810 |
| McCaffrey, 2012 (58) | Ireland | General health care study of the Irish prison population | 2000 | 91.0f | 32.3e | 2.82 | Not specified | 2,864 |
| Mannocci, 2015 (59) | Italy | Study of health status while incarcerated | 2011 | 69.7 | 29.0 | 2.40 | 121 | 64,966 |
| Pinto, 2015 (60) | Portugal | Youth in detention (ages 13–19 years) | Not specified | 40.0 current; 90.0 “early initiation” | 28.8 | 1.39 | 30 | 13,065 |
| Vera-Remartínez, 2014 (61) | Spain | Study in prison (n = 1,170) | 2013 | 71.0 | 29.9g | 2.37 | 1,022 | 70,692 |
| Ritter, 2013 (62) | Switzerland | Switzerland | 2010 | 84.0 | 25.5 | 3.29 | Not specified | 5,834 |
| Winetsky, 2014 (63) | Tajikistan | TB | 2010 | 38.6 | 30.0 | 1.29 | 1,317 | 9,168 |
| Studies of Women | ||||||||
| Singleton, 2003 (55); Jayes 2016 (56) | England | Remand and sentenced persons in prison | 1997 | 83.0 of remand 81.0 in prison | 20.1e | 4.03 | Not specified | 3,350 |
| Sahajian, 2012 (64) | France | Detained women | 2008 | 37.5f | 22.6g | 1.66 | 354 | 1,828 |
| Mir, 2015 (65) | Germany | Women entrants | 2012 | 80.7 | 24.4 | 150 | ||
| McCaffrey, 2012 (58) | Ireland | General health care study of the Irish prison population | 2000 | 100f | 29.6e | 3.38 | Not specified | 84 |
| Vera-Remartínez, 2013 (61) | Spain | Study in prison (n = 1,170) | 2013 | 58.2f | 22.3g | 2.61 | 55 | 4,521 |
Abbreviations: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; TB, tuberculosis.
a Data on general population from the World Health Organization (34), unless otherwise stated.
b Data from World Prison Brief (8).
c There is a consistent pattern in which the prevalence of smoking is nearly always very high among studies of prison populations of mixed sex, ranging from 59.1% in Albania to 68.7% in Turkey to greater than 70% in the Netherlands and Greece and greater than 80% in England and Switzerland.
d The prevalence of smoking in the general community ranges from 25.9% in Turkey to 55.7% in Greece.
e Data from Ng (46).
f Where comparable data exist, men in prison have higher levels of smoking than women, as in France (70.3% vs. 37.5%) and Spain (71.0% vs. 58.2%). In Ireland, however, both sexes have very high levels of smoking: 91% for men and 100% for women in the prison.
g This trend of higher levels among men mirrors that in the general populations in France (30.4% vs. 22.6%) and Spain (29.9% vs. 22.3%).