socioeconomic inequality in prevalence of cigarette and waterpipe smoking among iranian adults: a blinder oaxaca decomposition analysis

Background: to assess socioeconomic inequality in the prevalence of tobacco smoking among iranian adults in 2010. methods: data from the fifth national steps survey were analyzed. a blinder oaxaca decomposition model was applied to assess socioeconomic inequality in the prevalence of daily cigarette and waterpipe smoking in men and women. results: overall, 4,203 participants appeared to be in the first and fifth quintiles of ses for men, the prevalence of daily cigarette smoking was higher among those with low ses (23.1%) than those with high ses (11.1%) (p<0.001), which was mainly related to educational level (8.6%), residential area (2.7%) and being exposed to cigarette smoker at home/work (1.3%). likewise, we found a higher prevalence of daily waterpipe use among low ses (4.4%) women than high ses women (1.3%), education plays a significant role in this difference (p=0.003). conclusion: in conclusion, our findings reflect a strong association of education and economic level with tobacco smoking. such factors must be considered as a pivotal basis for the design of tobacco control program at national and subnational scales.