Prevalence and trends of cigarette smoking in different occupational groups: Results of the Minnesota Heart Survey 1980-1982 and 1985-1987

The association between smoking and occupational status is explored using data from the Minnesota Heart Survey. 7,381 currently employed subjects were included in the study (2,949 from the 1980-1982 survey and 4,432 from the 1985-1987 survey). In the first survey the prevalence of current smokers ranged from 23 (professional) to 57% (service occupations) in men and from 15 (artists and writers) to 59 (repair and craft occupations) in women. Educational level, age, race, and sex were important predictors of smoking status in a logistic regression analysis using combined data from the two surveys; occupational status was significantly associated with smoking after controlling for these covariables. Public health efforts should focus more on preventing smoking in lower educational groups and in those occupational groups that have the highest prevalence of smoking.