RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL STATUS, GENDER AND SMOKING IN FINLAND, 1978-1992

In several countries, the decline in smoking prevalence has been faste r among the more educated groups compared with the less educated. The aim of the study was to analyse self-reported smoking by years of educ ation among Finnish men and women from 1978 to 1992. The data were col lected annually by postal questionnaires from a random sample of 20-64 -year-old Finns. Response rates varied between 68% (1985) and 86% (197 8), averaging 79% and the number of respondents between 3400 and 5107. Years of education were measured by questionnaire and categorized int o two groups: <12 years and greater than or equal to 12 years. Among m en the prevalence of smoking has remained rather constant in both educ ational groups from 1978 to 1999. The difference between educational g roups, however, diminished in the early 1980s but has increased again since 1984. Among women, those who had the less education slightly inc reased their smoking rates since 1985. The difference between the two female educational groups has increased. The less educated women have smoked as often or more often than the more educated men since the lat e 1980s. The decreasing smoking trends found in several other countrie s, relative to increasing levels of education, are being slowed. The r esults indicate that in smoking control policy more concern should be devoted to the less educated groups and to the efforts to prevent new cohorts from picking up the smoking habit.