Abstract
Tobacco consumption is seen as a public health issue in many countries, leading to policies aimed at consumption cessation and to prevent the start of a regular smoking habit in the young. We assess the association between smoking habits and health status in a sample of Portuguese population with 50 years and above, from the SHARE – Survey of Health, Age and Retirement in Europe wave 4. Using a physical measure of health, respiratory peak flow, as well as the more standard measures of medical-doctor-diagnosed respiratory problems and self-assessed health, we show that tobacco consumption has an important negative impact in the health of the elderly, which is not captured by self-assessed health. From a policy perspective, this advises to the routine collection of physical measures of health to have effective knowledge about the health of the population and appropriate design in interventions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 113-128 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Hygiea Internationalis |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- Health
- Portugal
- Tobacco