An analysis of the disparity in smoking prevalence between urban and non-urban areas in Japan (2004–2019)

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze smoking prevalence trends in urban and non-urban areas using age-period-cohort (APC) analysis. Methods: Data on smoking prevalence from 2004 to 2019 were extracted from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan. Government ordinance-designated cities and the special wards in Tokyo were defined as urban areas. The respondents ranged from 20-79 years old, grouped in five-year increments. Cohorts were defined for each age group of each year, and those born between 1925-1929 and 1995-1999 were examined. We calculated the estimated smoking prevalence for each age, period, and cohort, as well as the smoking prevalence ratio of non-urban areas compared with urban areas from the APC analysis result. Results: The degree of decrease of the period effects on smoking prevalence was larger in urban areas than in non-urban areas for both men and women. Also, the smoking prevalence ratio for non-urban areas compared with that of urban areas was most of the times above 1for men, except in the older age groups. In addition, the prevalence ratio between the areas decreased, particularly with an increase in age. For women, although the smoking prevalence ratio in non-urban areas compared to urban areas was below 1 until cohorts born in the 1970s, the trend reversed thereafter. Conclusions: The result of this study therefore suggested that further smoking control and cessation measures are necessary, particularly for older cohorts in urban women and for younger ages in non-urban men.

Trend of asthma prevalence among children based on regional urbanization level in Japan; 2006–2019

“…Passive smoking has an effect on children, and maternal smoking during pregnancy was also shown to be related to the incidence of asthma in Japan [22,23]. In Japan, the prevalence of smoking is known to be higher in metropolitan areas compared with the other areas for females [24]. The prevalence of smoking significantly decreased from 2004 to 2019, and the degree of decrease of the prevalence was a little bit larger in metropolitan areas compared with the other areas [24].…”

“…In Japan, the prevalence of smoking is known to be higher in metropolitan areas compared with the other areas for females [24]. The prevalence of smoking significantly decreased from 2004 to 2019, and the degree of decrease of the prevalence was a little bit larger in metropolitan areas compared with the other areas [24]. Although the degree of decrease in rural areas has not been investigated, there is a possibility that the degree of decrease of the prevalence of smoking is low in rural areas in the study period.…”

An analysis of health inequalities depending on educational level using nationally representative survey data in Japan, 2019

“…The Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions is a national survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan, and its data have been used for many previous studies for revealing the relationship between each type of health behavior or status and socioeconomic status [3,4,16,[20][21][22]. The most recent Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions was conducted in 2019, whereas only one study analyzed the data [23]. The prevalence data of some types of health indicator depending on educational level are also publicly available, while the relationship in recent years has not been revealed yet using the most recent survey data.…”

Decreased head circumference at birth associated with maternal tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy on the Japanese prospective birth cohort study

“…In our study, 57% of 85,059 mothers selected “never smoked” in the self-administered questionnaires. The smoking prevalence among Japanese women aged 20–39 in the 2010s has been reported 6.8–16.9% 54 and 16.5% 55 . The smoking prevalence reported by previous studies reflected the current smoking status of women of reproductive age, while our study showed that the prevalence of experienced smoker among Japanese women of reproductive age was higher than 40%.…”