Social Determinants of Smoking Behavior:The Healthy Twin Study, Korea

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify any influence of socioeconomic status on smoking and smokingcessation in a situation where genetic factors are controlled.Methods: The sample for this study was 2502 members of the twins and families cohort who participated in the KoreanHealthy Twins Study from 2005 to 2009. Groups of brothers or sisters, including twins and fraternal twins, were comparedin terms of smoking and smoking cessation behaviors according to differences in socioeconomic status and gender.Results: In a situation with complete control of genetic factors, results showed that the daily smoking amount, cumulativesmoking amount, and dependence on nicotine decreased with higher-status occupations, and the rate of smoking andamount of cumulative smoking decreased with higher levels of education. Regarding smoking cessation behavior, a higherlevel of education was associated with a lower smoking cessation rate, and no significant gender differences were found.Conclusions: Environmental factors had a stronger influence on smoking behavior than did genetic factors. Geneticfactors had greater influence on smoking cessation than did environmental factors; however, this requires verification infurther studies.Key words: Smoking, Smoking cessation, Social class, Twins