Socioeconomic and gender disparities in tobacco smoking among Jamaican adults from a national health survey.

ObjectivesLittle is known of socioeconomic and gender disparities in tobacco use in the Caribbean. We evaluated education and occupation disparities in tobacco smoking prevalence in Jamaica. MethodsData on tobacco smoking, education attainment and usual occupation in adults 25-74 years in a national survey collected between 2007 and 2008 was analyzed. Using post stratification survey weights, Poisson regression models estimated sex-specific, age-adjusted prevalence estimates, prevalence differences and prevalence ratios. ResultsAnalyses included 2299 participants (696 men, 1603 women), mean age 43 years. Current smoking prevalence was 26% in men and 8% in women (p<0.001). Among men, age adjusted prevalence of current smoking was highest in primary education (36.5%) and lowest in the post-secondary education groups (10.2%), (p= 0.003). Among women, prevalence was highest in junior secondary education (10.2%) and lowest in primary education groups (4.7%), (p = 0.014). Among men, for education, age-adjusted prevalence ratios for current smoking ranged from 2.6 to 3.6 using post-secondary education as the reference category (p<0.05). For occupation, age-adjusted prevalence ratios ranged from 1.7 to 4.1 using professionals and managers as the reference category. Among women, using the same reference categories age-adjusted prevalence ratios for education ranged from 1.4 to 2.2 and for occupation 0.6 to 2.2, neither were statistically significant. ConclusionIn Jamaica, there are socioeconomic disparities in current tobacco smoking among men, where it is inversely associated with education attainment and occupation but in women is less clear. These findings suggest interventions to reduce smoking should consider these disparities.