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Cigarette
Use Linked
to Blue-Collar Occupations
Excerpt
By Natalie Engler, Reuters Health
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Although the number of Americans who smoke
cigarettes has decreased in recent years, the decline has not
penetrated all occupations, according to a government study that
links smoking to job and sector.
So-called
``blue-collar'' workers, such as builders, movers and auto mechanics
are more likely to light up than are their ''white-collar'' counterparts,
according to lead author Dr. Ki Moon Bang, of the National Institute
for Occupations Safety and Health. The findings, he said, may
be useful in identifying populations that could benefit from education
and outreach.
Researchers
have noted previously that smoking is more common among blue-collar
than white-collar workers. However, the new study, published in
the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, breaks down these
categories into 40 occupations and 44 industries.
To examine
the connection between smoking and vocation, Bang, along with
collaborator Dr. Jay H. Kim, examined data from a survey conducted
by the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study spanned
a 6-year period and polled more than 20,000 adults about their
cigarette smoking status, occupation, industry, employment and
gender.
Bang and Kim
found that 28% of the respondents smoked cigarettes from 1988
to 1994. The study also found that men smoke more often than women
(32% versus 25%) and blacks smoke slightly more often than whites
(31% versus 28%).
But some occupations
showed a disproportionate number of smokers. Nearly half of waiters,
construction workers, mechanics, and movers smoked, while less
than one fifth of teachers and sales representatives smoked.
Although the
construction industry had the highest rate of smoking overall,
the number of construction workers and people in construction
trades who smoked had dropped 7%. By contrast, the percentage
of vehicle mechanics and repairers who smoked had remained consistent.
Teachers seemed
to be most successful at kicking the habit, perhaps partially
due to schools' no-smoking policies. Twice as many teachers were
former smokers than were current smokers.
The investigators
also found that 43% of unemployed people smoked, compared with
30% of employed people and 23% of those not in the labor force.
Among the
industries represented, construction (42%) was followed by repair
services (41%), and lumber and wood products (40%) as having the
highest proportion of smokers.
``The reasons
the blue-collar workers have higher smoking (rates) might be (related
to) job stress, peer pressure and psycho-social behaviors,'' Bang
told Reuters Health. In the article, he pointed out that two prior
studies have linked smoking to occupational and environmental
stress.
SOURCE:
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2001;40:233-239.
Reference
Source 89
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