[Impact of smoking in Italy in 1998: deaths and years of potential life lost].

This report presents the impact of smoking habits on Italian mortality in 1998. Estimates of smoking-attributable fraction (FAF), smoking-attributable mortality (MAF), and years of potential life lost (YPLLf) were calculated using the SAMMEC software (CDC, USA), and the Peto method. During 1998, using the SAMMEC software, smoking caused approximately 83,650 premature deaths in Italy (67,600 in men, 16,000 in women, and 45 in infants), equal to 15.1% of mortality in adults above the age of 35 years (24.4% of mortality in men and 5.8% in women). YPLLf were about 900,000 in men, 221,000 in women, and 3,500 in infants. Using the Peto method, smoking-attributable deaths were about 70,200 (59,600 in men and 10,600 in women), equal to 12.7% of mortality in adults older than 35 years (21.5% of mortality in men and 3.9% in women). YPLLf were about 806,000 in men and 142,000 in women. Among adults, for both methods most smoking-related deaths were attributable to lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, chronic airways obstruction, and cerebrovascular disease. Differences between the estimates of the two methods underline the gap between a more conservative estimate (Peto method) and a less restrictive one (SAMMEC software). Given validity for both methods, it is likely smoking habits caused between 70,000 and 83,000 deaths in Italy during 1998.