Previous systematic reviews of population-level tobacco control interventions and their effects on smoking inequality by socioeconomic factors concluded that tobacco taxation reduce smoking inequality by income (although this is not consistent for other socioeconomic factors, such as education). Inconsistent results have been reported for socioeconomic differences, especially for other tobacco ...

BACKGROUND In Southern Europe, smoking among older women was more prevalent among the high educated than the lower educated, we call this a positive gradient. This is dominant in the early stages of the smoking epidemic model, later replaced by a negative gradient. The aim of this study is to assess if a positive gradient in smoking can also be observed in low and middle income countries in oth...

OBJECTIVE Smoking usually develops in adolescence and is patterned by socioeconomic position (SEP). We examined whether early adolescent smoking development and associations with SEP have changed over time in a population with well-developed tobacco control policies. We additionally investigated the relative importance of socioeconomic inequalities at different stages of smoking development. ...

The smoking cessation clinical practice guideline recently published by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) summarizes current knowledge on smoking cessation treatments. Among its recommendations, the guideline encourages physicians to motivate patients who indicate that they are not yet ready to quit smoking. Because medical training typically emphasizes pharmacologic rather...

BACKGROUND Pediatricians play an important role in promoting smoking cessation among the parents of young children as more behavioral counseling and cessation treatment are made available in the Chinese healthcare system. However, beliefs about the effectiveness of these interventions can influence pediatricians' recommendations to their patients. This study examined pediatricians' beliefs rega...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of cigarette smoking in the United States has decreased, but current rates remain above nationally set objectives. A family history of lung cancer may motivate adult smokers to quit and contribute to further reductions in smoking prevalence. METHODS We surveyed adult smokers (N = 838) interviewed as part of the 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey. We exami...

BACKGROUND There are few data on the quantitative effects of cigarette smoking on lung function in young adults. These effects are important in the understanding of the early stages of chronic airflow obstruction. METHODS A longitudinal study over eight years was carried out to estimate quantitatively the effect of cigarette smoking on ventilatory lung function in young adults and to examine ...

BACKGROUND The rate of smoking and lung cancer among women is rising in Europe. The primary aim of this study was to determine why women begin smoking in five different European countries at different stages of the tobacco epidemic and to determine if smoking is associated with certain characteristics and/or beliefs about smoking. METHODS A cross-sectional telephone survey on knowledge and be...

The original four-stage model of the cigarette epidemic has been extended with diffusion of innovations theory to reflect socio-economic differences in cigarette use. Recently, two revisions of the model have been proposed: (1) separate analysis of the epidemic stages for men and women, in order to improve generalization to developing countries, and; (2) addition of a fifth stage to the smoking...

Bronchial wall area percent (WA% = 100 × wall area/total bronchial cross sectional area) is a standard computed tomographic (CT) measure of central airway morphology utilized in smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although it provides significant clinical correlations, the range of reported WA% is narrow. This suggests limited macroscopic change in response to smoking or ...