Socioeconomic status and smoking: a review

Abstract

Smoking prevalence is higher among disadvantaged groups, and disadvantaged smokers may face higher exposure to tobacco's harms. Uptake may also be higher among those with low socioeconomic status (SES), and quit attempts are less likely to be successful. Studies have suggested that this may be the result of reduced social support for quitting, low motivation to quit, stronger addiction to tobacco, increased likelihood of not completing courses of pharmacotherapy or behavioral support sessions, psychological differences such as lack of self-efficacy, and tobacco industry marketing. Evidence of interventions that work among lower socioeconomic groups is sparse. Raising the price of tobacco products appears to be the tobacco control intervention with the most potential to reduce health inequalities from tobacco. Targeted cessation programs and mass media interventions can also contribute to reducing inequalities. To tackle the high prevalence of smoking among disadvantaged groups, a combination of tobacco control measures is required, and these should be delivered in conjunction with wider attempts to address inequalities in health.

Changes Over Time in Absolute and Relative Socioeconomic Differences in Smoking: A Comparison of Cohort Studies From Britain, Finland, and Japan

“…Nevertheless, the prevalence of smoking is typically highest among those lowest in the socioeconomic hierarchy. 3,14,43 We were able to include manual workers in our sensitivity analyses for the Finnish and Japanese cohort. In these analyses the relative and absolute class differences were somewhat larger for Finnish women and somewhat smaller for Finnish men.…”

“…Irrespective of whether socioeconomic position is measured by education, occupational class or income, smoking prevalence appears to follow a gradient. 3 The steep socioeconomic gradient in smoking in men takes a heavy toll on men in lower socioeconomic groups worldwide. Socioeconomic differences in women tend to be smaller, nonexistent or even reverse.…”

Contrasting Smokers' and Snus Users' Perceptions of Personal Tobacco Behavior in Norway

“…In this progressed stage, the number of smokers has decreased and the group of smokers is characterized by a decline in social economic and political power (Hiscock, Bauld, Amos, Fidler, & Munafò, 2012). Several studies have used the diffusion of innovation (DOI) model as a framework for analysing the cigarette epidemic at the societal level (Ferrence, 1990;Redmond, 1996;Rogers, 2003).…”

Lifestyle Vaccines and Public Health: Exploring Policy Options for a Vaccine to Stop Smoking

“…They have seen the fewest benefits from smoking cessation strategies (Passey and Bonevski, 2014). At national levels, smoking prevalence shows a strong social gradient; people who are economically deprived and less educated constitute the largest group of smokers (Hiscock et al, 2012). Globally, 80 per cent of smokers live in the poorer parts of the world (WHO, 2015).…”