Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health logoLink to Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
. 1996 Dec;50(6):625–630. doi: 10.1136/jech.50.6.625

The sociodemographic pattern of tobacco cessation in the 1980s: results from a panel study of living condition surveys in Sweden.

P Tillgren 1, B J Haglund 1, M Lundberg 1, A Romelsjö 1
PMCID: PMC1060378  PMID: 9039380

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To analyse the factors that determined whether or not people were successful in quitting tobacco during the 1980s in Sweden. DESIGN: A logistic regression model was used for the analyses and included: education, marital status, socioeconomic group, social network, physical activities, cigarette consumption, and years spent smoking as independent variables. Men and women were analysed separately for smoking. A specific univariate analysis was also performed for men who used snuff. SETTING: Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: A panel of 5104 randomised people aged 16-84 years was interviewed in 1980-81 and followed up in 1988-89 in the survey of living conditions undertaken by Statistics Sweden. The participation rate was 86%. The panel included 1546 men and women who were daily smokers. There were 418 daily users of snuff among the men, and 129 men both smoked and used snuff. MAIN RESULTS: Together 26% of women and 23% of men had quit smoking. Five percent in both groups were new smokers. Among men, 26% had quit using snuff and 5% had begun smoking. New snuff users among men were 5%. In the multivariate analysis, unmarried men kept smoking at significantly higher rates (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.2,3.6), as did those men who smoked 11-20 cigarettes/day (OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.5, 3.4), or more than 20 cigarettes/day (OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.4,5.7). Among women, smoking 11-20 cigarettes/day was also a significant factor (OR 3.3; 95% CI 2.1,5.0). Men and women aged 25-44 were significantly more likely to continue smoking (OR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.1,3.7, and 2.2; 95% CI 1.2,4.4) as were those who had smoked for 20 years or more (OR 4.7; 95% CI 2.0,10.8 and OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.1,5.5, respectively). For women, low education (up to grade 9) was also a significant factor (OR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.2,5.1). Among men who had quit using snuff we did not find any values of significance. CONCLUSIONS: One in four smokers had quit during the 1980s and a few started smoking (5%). Some men quit smoking and started using snuff instead. For both sexes, the daily consumption of cigarettes, years spent smoking, and age were the most important determinants of successful quitting. In men, being married/ cohabiting was an important factor as was higher education in women.

Full text

PDF
625

Images in this article

627Image
on p.627
627Image
on p.627
627Image
on p.627

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Berkman L. F., Syme S. L. Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: a nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents. Am J Epidemiol. 1979 Feb;109(2):186–204. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112674. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Boström G., Hallqvist J., Haglund B. J., Romelsjö A., Svanström L., Diderichsen F. Socioeconomic differences in smoking in an urban Swedish population. The bias introduced by non-participation in a mailed questionnaire. Scand J Soc Med. 1993 Jun;21(2):77–82. doi: 10.1177/140349489302100204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Coambs R. B., Li S., Kozlowski L. T. Age interacts with heaviness of smoking in predicting success in cessation of smoking. Am J Epidemiol. 1992 Feb 1;135(3):240–246. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Criqui M. H., Barrett-Connor E., Austin M. Differences between respondents and non-respondents in a population-based cardiovascular disease study. Am J Epidemiol. 1978 Nov;108(5):367–372. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112633. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cullen J. W. Tobacco use: prevention and control. Isr J Med Sci. 1986 Mar-Apr;22(3-4):283–300. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fiore M. C., Novotny T. E., Pierce J. P., Giovino G. A., Hatziandreu E. J., Newcomb P. A., Surawicz T. S., Davis R. M. Methods used to quit smoking in the United States. Do cessation programs help? JAMA. 1990 May 23;263(20):2760–2765. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Freund K. M., D'Agostino R. B., Belanger A. J., Kannel W. B., Stokes J., 3rd Predictors of smoking cessation: the Framingham Study. Am J Epidemiol. 1992 May 1;135(9):957–964. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hanson B. S., Isacsson S. O., Janzon L., Lindell S. E. Social support and quitting smoking for good. Is there an association? Results from the population study, "Men born in 1914," Malmö, Sweden. Addict Behav. 1990;15(3):221–233. doi: 10.1016/0306-4603(90)90065-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Helminen A., Halonen P., Rankinen T., Nissinen A., Rauramaa R. Validity assessment of a social support index. Scand J Soc Med. 1995 Mar;23(1):66–74. doi: 10.1177/140349489502300112. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. McGinnis J. M., Shopland D., Brown C. Tobacco and health: trends in smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption in the United States. Annu Rev Public Health. 1987;8:441–467. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pu.08.050187.002301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McWhorter W. P., Boyd G. M., Mattson M. E. Predictors of quitting smoking: the NHANES I followup experience. J Clin Epidemiol. 1990;43(12):1399–1405. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(90)90108-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Nordgren P., Ramström L. Moist snuff in Sweden--tradition and evolution. Br J Addict. 1990 Sep;85(9):1107–1112. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1990.tb03435.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Patrick D. L., Cheadle A., Thompson D. C., Diehr P., Koepsell T., Kinne S. The validity of self-reported smoking: a review and meta-analysis. Am J Public Health. 1994 Jul;84(7):1086–1093. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.7.1086. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pierce J. P., Fiore M. C., Novotny T. E., Hatziandreu E. J., Davis R. M. Trends in cigarette smoking in the United States. Educational differences are increasing. JAMA. 1989 Jan 6;261(1):56–60. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pierce J. P. International comparisons of trends in cigarette smoking prevalence. Am J Public Health. 1989 Feb;79(2):152–157. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.2.152. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Waldron I. Patterns and causes of gender differences in smoking. Soc Sci Med. 1991;32(9):989–1005. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(91)90157-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES