Abstract
Knowledge about the potential effects of stressful events on smoking cessation is helpful for the design of health interventions. Previous studies on this topic tended to group together adults of all ages and of both genders. We investigate the contribution of marital and employment losses on smoking cessation by gender, specifically among older adults in Europe. We used panel data from waves 4 (2011) and 5 (2013) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe for 3345 male and 3115 female smokers at baseline aged 50 and over from 13 countries. The associations between marital and employment losses and smoking cessation were derived from logistic regression models for each gender, controlling for age, educational attainment, diseases incidence and country of residence. Interactions between gender and marital and employment losses were tested. Over the analysed period, 119 smokers became widowed or divorced (1.8 %), 318 became retired (4.9 %) and 100 became unemployed (1.5 %). Becoming widowed or divorced was associated with lower probability of smoking cessation among both men (OR 0.36, 95 % CI 0.14–0.94) and women (OR 0.46, 95 % CI 0.21–0.99). Transitions to unemployment and to retirement were not significantly associated with smoking cessation (OR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.25–1.49; and OR 0.68, 95 % CI 0.43–1.07, respectively). Gender differences in the association between marital and employment losses and smoking cessation were not statistically significant (p value > 0.05 for all interactions). Health interventions should take into account that male and female older adults affected by marital loss are at risk of continuing smoking.
Highlights
Smoking is the leading risk factor in the burden of disease and mortality in Europe (Lim et al 2012), and one of the most important public health issues in Europe
We investigate the contribution of marital and employment losses on smoking cessation by gender, among older adults in Europe
The studies that investigated the role of key life course transitions found that smoking cessation is associated with both marital transitions (Giordano and Lindstrom 2011; Kriegbaum et al 2011; Lee et al 2005; Nystedt 2006) and employment transitions (Blakely et al 2014; De Vogli and Santinello 2005; Giordano and Lindstrom 2011; Kriegbaum et al 2011; Lang et al 2007)
Summary
Smoking is the leading risk factor in the burden of disease and mortality in Europe (Lim et al 2012), and one of the most important public health issues in Europe. The studies that investigated the role of key life course transitions found that smoking cessation is associated with both marital transitions (Giordano and Lindstrom 2011; Kriegbaum et al 2011; Lee et al 2005; Nystedt 2006) and employment transitions (Blakely et al 2014; De Vogli and Santinello 2005; Giordano and Lindstrom 2011; Kriegbaum et al 2011; Lang et al 2007). The effects of various stressful events on smoking have been shown to differ over the life course (Grotvedt and Stavem 2005; Jarvis et al 2013; Umberson et al 2008; Whitson et al 2006)
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