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

Conclusions:
Large social class differences in smoking persisted among British and Finnish men and women, with widening tendencies in relative differences over time. No differences could be confirmed among Japanese men or women.

Implications:
Changes over time in social class differences in smoking are poorly understood across countries. Our study focused on employees from Britain, Finland and Japan, and found relative and absolute and class differences among British and Finnish men and women. Key covariates had modest effects on the differences. Relative differences tended to widen over the 4- to 7-year follow-up, whereas absolute differences remained stable. In contrast, class differences in smoking among Japanese men or women were not found. Britain and Finland are at the late stage of the smoking epidemic model, whereas Japan may not follow the same model.

Source: Nicotine and Tobacco Research - July 11, 2016 Category: Addiction Authors: Lahelma, E., Pietiläinen, O., Ferrie, J., Kivimäki, M., Lahti, J., Marmot, M., Rahkonen, O., Sekine, M., Shipley, M., Tatsuse, T., Lallukka, T. Tags: Original Investigation Source Type: research