Smoking among stigmatized populations in Serbia

Background: Despite progress in reducing smoking prevalence in many countries, stigmatized, marginalized and socially deprived populations with low socioeconomic status still have higher smoking rates compared to general population. The aim of this study is to explore smoking prevalence and correlates among six stigmatized population groups in Serbia.Methods: Smoking prevalence data were extracted from the database from the bio-behavioral cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2013 among populations most at risk for HIV and people living with HIV (PLHIV). Various sampling techniques were used: among sex workers (n=400, snow ball sampling); men having sex with men (MSM) (n=1000, respondent-driven sampling), Roma youth (n=700, respondent-driven sampling); institutionalized children without parental care (n=211, cluster sampling); prisoners (n=543, cluster sampling); PLHIV (n=445, convenient sampling).Results: Smoking prevalence in all stigmatized groups included in this study ranged from 51% (PLHIV) to 91% (Sex Workers). Statistically significant smoking prevalence was found among female prisoners and sex workers. In all population groups, except for sex workers, alcohol use was statistically significantly associated with smoking status.Conclusions: There is a need for targeted interventions for stigmatized population groups in order to reduce smoking-related health disparity between these groups and general population.