Associations of smoking prevalence with individual and area level social cohesion.
OBJECTIVE
To discover if area level social cohesion, neighbourhood safety, and home safety are associated with current cigarette smoking among adults after adjustment for concentrations of poverty and low education.


METHODS
Cross sectional survey of a random sample of adults, stratified by 19 geographical areas.


METHODS
SHAPE, Survey of the Health of Adults, the Population, and the Environment-conducted in 1998 by the Hennepin County Community Health Department and the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support in Minnesota.


METHODS
5256 men and 4806 women, 18 years and older, randomly selected from 19 geographical areas in an urban county.


RESULTS
Overall, 21.2% of survey respondents reported current cigarette smoking. Both higher area level social cohesion (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.74 to 0.98) and higher individual social cohesion (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.92 to 0.99) were associated with lower likelihoods of smoking. Similar models were obtained for neighbourhood safety and home safety.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings contribute to the growing literature on the important role of social cohesion and other area level characteristics on smoking behaviour among adults.
Patterson
Joan M
JM
University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, USA. joan.patterson@epi.umn.edu
Eberly
Lynn E
LE
Ding
Yingmei
Y
Hargreaves
Margaret
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012449:Safety / Q000592:standards; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012944:Social Support