Socioeconomic Inequality in Concurrent Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption

Abstract

<br /> <strong><span style="font-size: small;">Background: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Whilst several studies have examined inequity of tobacco use and inequity of alcohol drinking individually, comparatively little is known about concurrent tobacco and alcohol consumption. The present study therefore investigated inequity of concurrent tobacco and alcohol consumption in Thailand. </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Methods: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The 2015 Health and Welfare Survey </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">was obtained from Thailand's National Statistical Office and used as a source of national representative data. Concurrent tobacco and alcohol consumption was defined as current and concurrent use of both tobacco and alcohol. The wealth </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">assets index was used as an indicator of socioeconomic inequity. Socioeconomic status included 5 groups ranging from poorest (Q1) to richest (Q5). A total of 55,920 households and 113,705 participants aged 15 years or over were included and analyzed. A weighted multiple logistic regression was performed. </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Results: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The prevalence of concurrent tobacco and alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption only, and alcohol consumption only were 15.2% (95% CI: 14.9, 15.4), 4.7% (95% CI: 4.5, 4.8), and 18.9% (95% CI: 18.7, 19.1), respectively. Weighted multiple logistic regression showed that concurrent tobacco and alcohol consumption was high in the poorest socioeconomic group (P for trend: <0.001), and tobacco consumption only was also high in the poorest group (P for trend: <0.001). A high prevalence of alcohol consumption was observed in the richest group (P for trend: <0.001). </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Conclusions: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">These findings suggest that tobacco </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">and alcohol consumption prevention programs would be more effective if they considered socioeconomic inequities in concurrent tobacco and alcohol consumption rather than focusing on single drug use. </span></span>