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Socioeconomic inequalities in current daily smoking in five Turkish regions

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

To assess whether socioeconomic inequalities in smoking in five regions across in Turkey have the same pattern as observed in southern Europe.

Methods

Cross-sectional data of the World Health Survey 2002 from Turkey were analyzed (5,951 women and 4,456 men) to evaluate the association of smoking with wealth and education. Age-standardized prevalence rates and odds ratios were calculated separately by sex, region and age groups.

Results

Smoking prevalence was 16.7 % for women and 51.4 % for men. Smoking risk was increased in higher wealth and education groups among women in all regions and for both younger and older generations. In the East, Middle and Black Sea regions this female pattern was most pronounced. For men, smoking was less prevalent in the two highest wealth groups. Unlike among women, socioeconomic differences in smoking were approximately equally large in all regions.

Conclusions

Patterns of inequalities in smoking across the five regions strongly resemble those observed in southern Europe. This fits the patterns predicted by the smoking epidemic model. Particular attention should be given to highly educated women, who may perceive smoking as a symbol of modernity, emancipation and independence.

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Conflict of interest

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Ege University School of Medicine, Bornova, Izmir, 35100, Turkey

    Hur Hassoy & Isil Ergin

  2. Department of Public Health, Academic Medical Centre (AMC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Anton E. Kunst

Authors
  1. Hur Hassoy
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  2. Isil Ergin
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  3. Anton E. Kunst
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Correspondence to Hur Hassoy.

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Hassoy, H., Ergin, I. & Kunst, A.E. Socioeconomic inequalities in current daily smoking in five Turkish regions. Int J Public Health 59, 251–260 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-013-0476-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-013-0476-z

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