[City dwellers' behaviour concerning smoking ten years after joining 'Quit and Win' competition].

Harmful influence of chemical compounds on human organism included in tobacco has been thoroughly tested and described in literature. The results of tests show quite clearly that it is worth undertaking actions that aim at limiting and perhaps even eliminating the habit of smoking in society. Antinicotine actions led in big populations are considered an effective and cheap method of fighting the habit of smoking. The aim of the work is to present the differences in behaviour as far as smoking is concerned, among the inhabitants of cities and towns, depending on the place's size, ten years after joining 'Quit and Win' competition. In August 2006 there were additional tests o 1700 participants of 'Quit and Win' competition that ended in 1996 and finalized the 2nd International Antinicotine Campaign in Poland. A survey sent by post was used. Answers were sent back by 648 respondents, 550 of whom (which is 84.9%) lived in cities. People declaring total tobacco abstinence underwent biochemical tests. Ten years after the attempt to sustain tobacco abstinence, since May 1996, 424 people living in cities came to the conclusion that they achieved their goal and do not smoke at all, whereas 126 people (22.9%) could not reach the total abstinence throughout such a long period of time. The non-smokers were 77.1% of all the respondents and at least 34.0% of all the 'Quit and Win' competition participants who lived in cities. 178 people living in cities claiming they did not smoke at all made up for 73.0% of the respondents and at least 26.5% of all the competition participants living in the cities. In the cities with the number of inhabitants numbering from fifty to two hundred thousand, 123 who were already non-smokers made up for 80.4% of the respondents an at least 36.4% of all the participants of the competition living in the cities with such a number of people. In the cities where there were less than fifty thousand people, 123 non-smoker also made up for 80.4% of the respondents and at least 51.9% of all the competition participants from the cities with less than fifty thousand inhabitants. The results prove great efficiency of the 2nd International Antinicotine Campaign in Poland that ended the 'Quit and Win' competition. The analysis of the collected material shown that after ten years, participation of the nonsmokers from the 'Quit and Win' competition statistically depended very much on the size of the city. The difference between the size of the ratio of non-smoking participants living in big cities (Łódź) and the ratio of non-smoking participants living in the cities of fifty to two hundred thousand inhabitants was 9.9 percentage point, whereas between the ratio of non-smokers living in small cities of less than fifty thousand inhabitants was as much as 25.4 percentage point--to the benefit of the small city dwellers.