Quality of Life and Smoking Among Industrial Workers in Greece

Background: Smoking is a predictor of quality of life, while socio-economic factors influence the prevalence of smoking habits. Occupational medical research has been fairly late in coming to study quality of life aspects in working populations.

Objectives: The aim of the study is the assessment of smoking prevalence among blue- and white-collar workers industrial workers in Greece and its impact on health-related quality of life.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study the Euro-Qol 5D questionnaire was been used in a random sample of 472 blue and white-collar heavy industry workers.

Results: 57% of the study population were current smokers. The difference in prevalence of smoking across all the examined socio-demographic variables (sex, age, education and occupation) was not statistically significant. Smoking had a significant impact on the health-related quality of life. Smokers recorded significant lower scores (74.9) in the overall Visual Analogue Scale in comparison with non-smokers (79.1), (p = 0.007). Further analysis revealed that age, smoking and education were significant predictors of VAS score. A non-significant contribution was found for occupation and sex. Smokers reported significantly higher rates of problems regarding mobility, self-care and anxiety/depression than non-smokers. Logistic regression analysis showed an independent impact of smoking on mobility, self-care and anxiety/depression level.

Conclusions: Smoking is a significant hazard and a strong predictor of poor quality of life among the blue- and white-collar workers under study. Anti-smoking policies integrated into a broader context of occupational health and safety at work could reduce smoking rates and thus improve worker's quality of life.