Trends in educational inequalities in smoking in northern, mid and southern Italy, 1980-2000.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the direction and magnitude of socioeconomic inequality in smoking in Italy over the last two decades, focusing on both national and macro-regional patterns. METHODS: We used data from six National Health Interview Surveys from 1980 to 2000, whose sample size ranged between 60,000 and 140,000. We calculated age-adjusted prevalence rates of current smoking and estimated odds ratios (OR) and relative indexes of inequality (with 95% confidence intervals) using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In men aged 25-49, the OR of current smoking of low compared to high educated was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.16, 1.37) in 1980 and 1.71 (95% CI: 1.62, 1.80) in 2000. A reversal of the association between education and tobacco use from positive (OR = 0.43) to negative (OR = 1.12) was found for women of the same age group. Changes in educational inequalities in smoking were similar between different macro-regions for men, whereas among women, smaller differentials over all the study period were found in southern regions compared to central and northern regions, despite similar direction in trends. CONCLUSIONS: The gap between high- and low-educated groups has widened, especially in the youngest generations. Southern regions lag behind central and northern Italy in the progression of the smoking epidemic.

[Social differences and indicators of perceived health, chronic diseases, disability and life style in the 1994. ISTAT national health interview survey]. / Differenze sociali e indicatori di salute soggettiva, morbosità cronica, disabilità e stili di vita nell'indagine ISTAT sulla salute del 1994.

In this paper social differences in health, analysed by different dimensions (perceived health, chronic diseases, functional deficits and disability) and social differences in lifestyle, in particular smoking habit and use of health services for the prevention of some female tumours, are described. The study is based on the data collected in the National Interview Survey on Health Status and Use of Health Care Services, conducted by ISTAT in the 1994. The analysis has been performed separately for males and females, computing Prevalence Rate Ratios (PRR) standardized by age. Educational level and social class, based on Schizzerotto's classification, have been used as determinants of differences in health and lifestyle. Unfavourable perception of health status and most of chronic diseases, referred as diagnosed by a doctor, show an increasing prevalence with decreasing educational level. Less striking differences are observed in the occurrence of injuries and in the restriction of daily life activities caused by diseases. A lower educational level corresponds to a regular increase in the proportion of disabled subjects. Females show higher differences than males in overweight and underweight prevalences in favour of more educated. Smoking habit shows an inverse correlation with education in males and a direct correlation in females, while attempts to quit smoking are more common among more educated individuals. Among women, the tendency to use screening tests for the prevention of some tumours is directly proportional to the educational level. Similar findings were obtained using the social class, with small bourgeoisie and working class showing similar excess risks, compared to bourgeoisie. This study found significant social inequalities in health status and in lifestyle in Italian population in 1994. The discussion argues that in absence of preventive interventions on disadvantaged groups of the population an increase of social differences in health is predictable.