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Smoke intake among smokers is higher in lower socioeconomic groups
M Bobak1, M J Jarvis, Z Skodova
1International Centre for Health and Society, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
Objective:
To analyse socioeconomic differences in serum thiocyanate concentrations among current smokers, and whether such differences persist after adjustment for the number of cigarettes smoked.
Setting:
General population of six districts of the Czech Republic in 1992.
Participants:
451 male and 282 female current smokers.
Main Outcome Measure:
Serum concentration of thiocyanate.
Results:
There was a clear educational gradient in serum thiocyanate among male smokers; car ownership and crowding were not related to thiocyanate. Age adjusted mean concentrations in men with primary, vocational, secondary, and university education were 168.6, 158.2, 148.2, and 141.8 micromol/l, respectively (p for trend 0.032). Adjustment for the average daily number of cigarettes explained a part of this gradient. Socioeconomic differences in serum thiocyanate were not seen in women.
Conclusion:
The strong gradient in men suggests that smokers from lower socioeconomic groups have a preference for higher smoke intake and so may be more nicotine dependent. This finding, if confirmed, would have important implications for anti-smoking programmes.