Prevalence and Intensity of Cigarette Smoking in Iranian Households: Measurement of Socioeconomic Inequality Publisher



Safarifaramani R¹ ; Yahyavi Dizaj J^{1, 2} ; Amini S³ ; Parvari A⁴ ; Irandost K⁵ ; Arefi Z⁶ ; Kazemkaryani A¹
Source: Journal of Substance Use Published:2023

Abstract

Background: Cigarette smoking is one of the most important behavioral risk factors for chronic diseases. This study aimed to investigate socioeconomic inequalities in cigarette smoking (CS) among Iranian households. Methods: Concentration index (C) was calculated to measure socioeconomic inequality in smoking and number of smoked cigarettes per month among households using data from the income-expenditure survey of the statistical center of Iran (SCI) in 2017. To identify the contribution of socioeconomic and demographic variables to the measured socioeconomic inequality, the C index was decomposed using Wagstaff method. Results: The results indicated that 19.89% (N = 7547) of the households were smoking cigarettes with an average number of 87.91 (SD = 235.22) per month. The C index was −0.009 for smoking households (95% CI = −0.023, 0.006) and 0.004 (95% CI = −0.011, 0.019) for the number of cigarettes smoked per month and were not statistically significant. Most of provinces had pro-rich inequality in prevalence and intensity of CS. The province of residence had the highest contribution to inequality in smoking (66.82%) followed by SES and age of the household head. Conclusions: The study concluded that the prevalence and intensity of cigarette smoking were more concentrated among low-SES groups. The strategies to control CS should be modified based on the province of residence, and socioeconomic inequalities in CS among households. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.