Association of smoking cessation with financial stress and material well-being: results from a prospective study of a population-based national survey.
OBJECTIVE
We used 4 waves of prospective data to examine the association of smoking cessation with financial stress and material well-being.


METHODS
Data (n = 5699 at baseline) came from 4 consecutive waves (2001-2005) of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. We used mixed models to examine the participant-specific association of smoking cessation with financial stress and material well-being.


RESULTS
On average, a smoker who quits is expected to have a 25% reduction (P<.001; odds ratio [OR]=0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.69, 0.81) in the odds of financial stress. Similarly, the data provided strong evidence (P<.001) that a smoker who quits is likely to experience an enhanced level of material well-being.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate that interventions to encourage smoking cessation are likely to improve standards of living and reduce deprivation. The findings provide grounds for encouraging the social services sector to incorporate smoking cessation efforts into their programs to enhance the material or financial conditions of disadvantaged groups. The findings also provide additional incentives for smokers to stop smoking and as such can be used in antismoking campaigns and by smoking cessation services.
Siahpush
Mohammad
M
Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria, Victoria, Australia. msiahpush@unmc.edu
Spittal
Matt
M
Singh
Gopal K
GK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology