Knowledge and Perceptions of Smoking According to Income Level in Morocco

• Published in: American journal of health promotion Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 387 - 391
• Main Authors: Fakir, Samira El, Serhier, Zineb, Berraho, Mohammed, Elrhazi, Karima, Tachfouti, Nabil, Slama, Karen, Nejjari, Chakib
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2011
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cross-Sectional Studies; Family Characteristics; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Income; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Morocco - epidemiology; Population Surveillance; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking - psychology; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Morocco; Health focus: smoking control; Income Level; Strategy: culture change; Smokers; Setting: state/national; Manuscript format: research; Outcome measure: behavioral; Target population circumstances: education/income level; Knowledge; Prevention Research; Target population age: adults; Morocco; Research purpose: modeling/relationship testing; Study design: nonexperimental
• ISSN: 0890-1171; 2168-6602; 2168-6602
• DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.090123-QUAN-30

Purpose. To determine the association between income level and variations in knowledge and perceptions about tobacco smoking in Morocco. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Random sample of 9195 subjects representative of the Moroccan population. Subjects. Subjects aged > 15 years from households. Measures. Data were collected from selected households using a standardized questionnaire about smoking, educational level, household monthly income, and knowledge of health effects of smoking. Analysis. Stepwise logistic regression was used for multivariate analysis. Adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for each variable were calculated as an estimate of the likelihood of having knowledge that smoking causes selected diseases. Results. Among 9195 subjects, 27.8% reported low income (<2000 Moroccan dirhams [MAD]), and 9.9% reported the highest income level (≥ 6000 MAD). Higher income was significantly associated with higher knowledge of health effects of smoking (p < .0001); 55% of low-income respondents compared to 71.5% of respondents with higher income knew about the relationship between cigarette smoking and cancer. Conclusions. Lower income level was associated with lower awareness of the harms of smoking. There is a need to improve knowledge of the dangers of smoking among the disadvantaged segments of the population.