It is a matter of speculation whether the high prevalence of smoking among Hungarian
Roma (HR) is related to genetic, gene-environmental interactions or cultural factors. Our aim
is to compare the genetic susceptibility and possible effects of determinants associated with
smoking behaviours in the Hungarian general (HG) and Roma populations. A complex
health survey including three pillars (questionnaire, physical and laboratory examinations)
was carried out (NHG= 412 and NHR= 402). Risk allele frequencies of ten single-nucleotide …

Background Prevalence of smoking in Hungarian Roma (HR) population is two to five times
higher than in Hungarian general (HG) population. Our study aims to examine genetic
susceptibility and other possible determinants associated to smoking behaviours in these
populations. Methods A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was designed in HG (N=
412) and HR (N= 402) populations. Ten Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) were
genotyped known to be robustly linked to smoking behaviours. Risk allele frequencies were …