Demographic factors, social capital, and cigarette smoking: a large cross-sectional study in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Objective: Cigarette smoking is a worldwide public health concern, due to its long- and short-term harmful effects. Social capital can be considered as a potential strategy to prevent smoking, and can help to identify those at high risk of smoking. Therefore, the present study investigated the association between demographic factors, social capital, and self-reported cigarette-smoking status in residents of Tehran, Iran.

Methods: In a large cross-sectional population-based study, 31,434 residents aged 20 years and above were selected through a multi-stage sampling method from 22 districts of Tehran in 2011. The smoking status and social capital were measured via self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted via descriptive statistics, t-test, chi square, and logistic regression, using Stata-SE11 software.

Results: In a total of 31,434 participants, the prevalence of smoking was reported at 6.56% (CI 95% = 6.28–6.84). The components of social capital including individual trust (OR = 0.72; CI 95% = 0.55–0.89), cohesion/social support (OR = 0.74; CI 95% = 0.52–0.90), and social trust/associative relationships (OR = 0.81; CI 95% = 0.69–0.96) had significant relationships with smoking status such that their means were higher in the nonsmokers than in the smokers. In addition, age (OR = 0.96; CI 95% = 0.95–0.97), gender (OR = 6.97; CI 95% = 5.74–8.47), house ownership (OR = 0.72; CI 95% = 0.65–0.81), job status(OR = 4.01; CI 95% = 2.59–6.19), marital status (OR = 1.66; CI 95% = 1.30–2.13), and educational levels (OR = 0.71; CI 95% = 0.61–0.84) had a direct association with smoking status.

Conclusions: Social capital and its components were positively associated with smoking status. These results suggest that social capital, as measured by individual trust, cohesion/social support, and social trust/associative relationships, can be an important way for individuals to attain good health and reduce cigarette smoking.

Keywords:

• Cigarette smoking
• demographic factors
• social capital

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aziz Kassani

JH, MA, AK, and HG contributed to conceiving and designing the study. MA contributed to the study design and the project management. The gathered data were analyzed and interpreted by JH, MA, AR, and AK. JH, MA, AK, AR, and HG contributed equally to writing the manuscript. All the authors had equal contribution to revising and approving the manuscript.