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Background: It is uncertain whether tobacco control policies have contributed to a narrowing or widening of socioeconomic inequalities in smoking in European countries during the past two decades. This paper aims to investigate the impact of price and non-price related population-wide tobacco control policies on smoking by socioeconomic group in nine European countries between 1990 and 2007.Methods: Individual-level education, occupation and smoking status were obtained from nationally representative surveys. Country-level price-related tobacco control policies were measured by the relative price of cheapest cigarettes and of cigarettes in the most popular price category. Country-level non-price policies were measured by a summary score covering four policy domains: smoking bans or restrictions in public places and workplaces, bans on advertising and promotion, health warning labels, and cessation services. The associations between policies and smoking were explored using logistic regressions, stratified by education and occupation, and adjusted for age, Gross Domestic Product, period and country fixed effects.Results: The price of popular cigarettes and non-price policies were negatively associated with smoking among men. The price of the cheapest cigarettes was negatively associated with smoking among women. While these favorable effects were generally in the same direction for all socioeconomic groups, they were larger and statistically significant in lower socioeconomic groups only.Conclusions: Tobacco control policies as implemented in nine European countries, have probably helped to reduce the prevalence of smoking in the total population, particularly in lower socioeconomic groups. Widening inequalities in smoking may be explained by other factors. Policies with larger effects on lower socioeconomic groups are needed to reverse this trend.Implications: Socioeconomic inequalities in smoking widened between the 1990s and the 2000s in Europe. During the same period, there were intensified tobacco control policies in many European countries. It is uncertain whether tobacco control policies have contributed to a narrowing or widening of socioeconomic inequalities in smoking in European countries. This study shows that tobacco control policies as implemented in the available European countries have helped to reduce the prevalence of smoking in the total population, particularly in lower socioeconomic groups. Widening inequalities in smoking may be explained by other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Since 2000 various tobacco control measures have been implemented in the UK. Changes in the smoking status of low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups in England during this period (2001–08) are explored. Methods Secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England general population samples was undertaken. Over 88 000 adults, age 16 or over, living in England were included. Smoking status (current, ex or never) was reported. SES was assessed through a count of seven possible indicators of disadvantage: National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NSSEC), neighbourhood index of multiple deprivation, lone parenting, car availability, housing tenure, income and unemployment. Results Smoking rates were four times higher among the most disadvantaged [60.7% (95% CI: 58.2–63.3)] than the most affluent [15.3% (95% CI: 14.8–15.8)]. Smoking prevalence declined between 2001 and 2008 except among the multiply disadvantaged. This trend appeared to be due to an increase in never smoking rather than an increase in quitting. Disadvantage declined among non-smokers but not smokers. Conclusions In general never smoking and affluence increased in England over this period. The disadvantaged, however, did not experience the decline in smoking and smokers missed out from the increase in affluence. Smoking and disadvantage may increasingly coexist. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Housing conditions are recognised as an important determinant of health. In the UK, interventions to improve domestic heating are in place with the expectation that they will improve health. As a component of evaluating such policies, this study assesses whether specific health outcomes are significantly associated with the extent and duration of domestic heating use, either directly or via a possible mediating effect of internal environmental conditions. Methods: Baseline data from a prospective controlled study evaluating the health effects of a publicly-funded programme of heating improvements in Scotland were used to assess associations among heating use, internal conditions, and three specific health outcomes. Results: There were significant associations (P < 0.01) between measures of heating use and the presence of environmental problems in the home, such as mould and condensation. The presence of such problems was, in turn, found to be significantly predictive of two health outcomes derived from the SF-36 (P < 0.01) and of adult wheezing (P < 0.05). The direction of significant associations was highly consistent: greater levels of heating were associated with reduced likelihood of environmental problems, and the presence of environmental problems was linked to poorer health status. Heating use was not directly associated with the health outcomes considered. Conclusions: The study findings are consistent with a conceptual model in which health may be influenced by usage patterns of domestic heating, via the mediating effect of poor internal environmental conditions. Since these findings are based on cross-sectional data, interpretation must he carried out cautiously. However, if confirmed by planned future work they have important implications for policy initiatives relating to domestic heating and fuel poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of smoking ban and relocation programs. Shifts in public tolerance towards environmental tobacco smoke; Details on a smoking ban at a university in Scotland; Suggested solutions to the problem.

The article focuses on various indicators of adolescent socio-economic status (SES). The three major health indicators are mortality, chronic illness and self-reported health. The indicators of SES measure distinct dimensions of SES. This can be observed in their inter-relations and their associations with a range of health indicators and health behavior measures. The article concludes that material affluence of the family, as measured by the FAS, provides a useful complementary or alternative indicator of SES to conventional occupational measures.

Using modelling techniques derived from behavioural ecology, unnamed identifier data from a variety of partial samples of injecting drug users [IDUs] were used to estimate the prevalence of this population in Glasgow during 1989. The model yielded an estimate of 9424 (95% confidence interval±2460] which represents a prevalence rate of 15 per 1000 population aged 15–55. The estimated male: female ratio was 2.64: 1 and the modal IDU aged 20–24. These figures should facilitate assessment of the service requirements of this group and provide a basis from which the number of IDUs infected with HIV and the number likely to progress to AIDS can be determined. As the methodology required to facilitate reliable prevalence estimates utilizes relatively easy to obtain information it could be repeated in other urban centres where drug injecting is known to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]