Evolución de la mortalidad atribuible al tabaco en las Islas Canarias (1975-1994)

Background: The objective of this study is that of describing the death rate attributable to tobacco on the Canary Islands throughout the 1975-1994 period. Method: Deaths by age, sex and cause from 1975 to 1994 were obtained from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (Natural Movement of Population). Based on the Spanish and Canary Island Health Surveys, the percentages of those who had never smoked, smokers and ex-smokers for the Canary Island population were taken by age and sex. The relative risks of death were taken from the Cancer Prevention Study II carried out in the United States. The percentages of deaths attributable to smoking were calculated for each year, sex and age group based on the attributable fraction of the population. Likewise, the trend in the death rate attributable for the time period in question was calculated and given in the form of the annual mean percentage change in the age-adjusted death rates by way of a log-linear model. Results: During the 1975-1994 period, the number of deaths attributed to smoking rose by 64%. For major causes, a 108% increase in neoplasias, a 32% drop in cardiovascular diseases and a 15.5% increase in respiratory diseases were found for the period under study. The number of deaths was also found to increase with age, the 65 and over age group having been found to be that in which the most deaths caused by smoking occurred. Conclusions: On the Canary Islands, over 20% of all deaths in 1994 can be attributed to smoking. This suggests that the measures implemented to control the smoking habit are insufficient. Fundamento: El objetivo de este trabajo es describir la mortalidad atribuible al consumo de tabaco en las Islas Canarias durante el período 1975-1994. Método: Las defunciones por edad, sexo y causa desde 1975 a 1994 se obtuvieron del Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Movimiento Natural Población). A partir de las Encuestas de Salud de España y Canarias se tomaron los porcentajes de nunca fumadores, fumadores y ex-fumadores de la población canaria por edad y sexo. Los riesgos relativos de muerte se obtuvieron del Cancer Prevention Study II, llevado a cabo en Estados Unidos de América. Se calculó la proporción de muertes atribuibles al tabaco para cada año, sexo y grupo de edad a partir de la fracción atribuible poblacional. Así mismo, se calculó la tendencia de la mortalidad atribuible para dicho período expresada como el cambio porcentual medio anual de las tasas de la mortalidad ajustadas po