Smoking cessation by socioeconomic status and marital status: The contribution of smoking behavior and family background

We studied socioeconomic status and marital status as predictors of smoking cessation, adjusting for previous smoking behavior and family background by using a large Finnish prospective twin dataset unselected for smoking behavior. The data were collected by postal surveys in 1981 and 1990, and the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nicotine & tobacco research 2004-06, Vol.6 (3), p.447-455
Main Authors: Broms, Ulla, Silventoinen, Karri, Lahelma, Eero, Koskenvuo, Markku, Kaprio, Jaakko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age of Onset
Aged
Child
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Male
Marital Status
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Smoking - genetics
Smoking - psychology
Smoking Cessation - economics
Smoking Cessation - psychology
Social Class
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Summary:We studied socioeconomic status and marital status as predictors of smoking cessation, adjusting for previous smoking behavior and family background by using a large Finnish prospective twin dataset unselected for smoking behavior. The data were collected by postal surveys in 1981 and 1990, and the sample comprised 3,069 current smokers, of whom 20% had quit smoking by 1990. Logistic regression analyses of all twin individuals and conditional logistic regression analysis of discordant pairs were used to predict smoking cessation. High education predicted smoking cessation among both men (OR=2.32, 95% CI=1.31–4.10) and women (OR=3.98, 95% CI=1.85–8.51) as did high social class among women. Additionally, starting at a late age, smoking a small number of cigarettes per day, and a low level of nicotine per cigarette predicted cessation. Socioeconomic differences in cessation diminished only slightly when we adjusted for smoking behavior factors. Among the twin pairs who were discordant in terms of smoking cessation, the twin who continued smoking also smoked more on average at baseline (men: OR=.94, 95% CI=.89–.99; women: OR=.82, 95% CI=.71–.94). The male twins who continued smoking had a smaller probability of getting married during the follow-up than had the cotwin who had quit smoking (OR=3.91, 95% CI=1.02–15.02). Indicators of socioeconomic status were important predictors of smoking cessation even when we adjusted for previous smoking behavior. For men, marriage was associated with an increased probability of cessation.
ISSN:1462-2203
1469-994X
DOI:10.1080/14622200410001696637