Influence of smoking on the prevalence of chronic diseases among people with different income levels / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the influence of smoking on chronic diseases among people with various income levels in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Cross-sectional study on smoking behavior, chronic disease and income level was performed using database of the Second National Health Service Study (1998) provided by the Ministry of Health in China.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to never-smokers, smokers (including current smokers and former smokers) had a higher rate of having chronic diseases, after adjusted in age, income, educational level, employment status and type of jobs with corresponding countryside (OR = 1.185, 95% CI 1.121 - 1.253 and town OR = 1.083, 95% CI 1.010 - 1.161). Smoking had a more serious effect on having chronic illness in males from the countryside (former-smoker OR = 2.764, 95% CI 2.471 - 3.092) than in town (former-smoker OR = 2.112, 95% CI 1.844 - 2.419). Smokers at the lowest income level had a higher possibility of having chronic illness (town OR = 2.076, 95% CI 1.551 - 2.780; countryside OR = 2.903, 95% CI 2.248 - 3.749) than those at the highest income level (town OR = 1.785, 95% CI 1.285 - 2.479 in the countryside OR = 2.466, 95% CI 1.941 - 3.134).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Smoking might cause more serious health problems to people at lower income level in China.</p>