Work-place social capital and smoking cessation: The Finnish Public Sector Study

AIMS:
To examine whether high social capital at work is associated with an increased likelihood of smoking cessation in baseline smokers.
DESIGN:
Prospective cohort study.
SETTING:
Finland.
PARTICIPANTS:
A total of 4853 employees who reported to be smokers in the baseline survey in 2000-2002 (response rate 68%) and responded to a follow-up survey on smoking status in 2004-2005 (response rate 77%).
MEASUREMENTS:
Work-place social capital was assessed using a validated and psychometrically tested eight-item measure. Control variables included sex, age, socio-economic position, marital status, place of work, heavy drinking, physical activity, body mass index and physician-diagnosed depression.
FINDINGS:
In multi-level logistic regression models adjusted for all the covariates, the odds for being a non-smoker at follow-up were 1.26 [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.03-1.55] times higher for baseline smokers who reported high individual-level social capital than for their counterparts with low social capital. In an analysis stratified by socio-economic position, a significant association between individual-level social capital and smoking cessation was observed in the high socio-economic group [odds ratio (OR) (95% CI)=1.63 (1.01-2.63)], but not in intermediate [(OR=1.10 (0.83-1.47)] or low socio-economic groups [(OR=1.28 (0.86-1.91)]. Work unit-level social capital was not associated with smoking cessation.
CONCLUSIONS:
If the observed associations are causal, these findings suggest that high perceived social capital at work may facilitate smoking cessation among smokers in higher-status jobs.

Social support, network heterogeneity, and smoking behavior in women: The 10-town study

Purpose. Examine the associations among social support, network heterogeneity, and smoking behavior in a large sample of Finnish female municipal employees.

Average household income, crime, and smoking behaviour in a local area: The Finnish 10-Town study

Social environments, like neighbourhoods, are increasingly recognised as determinants of health. While several studies have reported an association of low neighbourhood socio-economic status with morbidity, mortality and health risk behaviour, little is known of the health effects of neighbourhood crime rates. Using the ongoing 10-Town study in Finland, we examined the relations of average household income and crime rate measured at the local area level, with smoking status and intensity by linking census data of local area characteristics from 181 postal zip codes to survey responses to smoking behaviour in a cohort of 23,008 municipal employees. Gender-stratified multilevel analyses adjusted for age and individual occupational status revealed an association between low local area income rate and current smoking. High local area crime rate was also associated with current smoking. Both local area characteristics were strongly associated with smoking intensity. Among ever-smokers, being an ex-smoker was less likely among residents in areas with low average household income and a high crime rate. In the fully adjusted model, the association between local area income and smoking behaviour among women was substantially explained by the area-level crime rate. This study extends our knowledge of potential pathways through which social environmental factors may affect health. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organisational justice and smoking: the Finnish public sector study

Objective: To examine the extent to which the justice of decision-making procedures and interpersonal relationships is associated with smoking.

Work stress, smoking status, and smoking intensity: an observational study of 46 190 employees

Study objective: To examine the relation between work stress, as indicated by the job strain model, and the effort-reward imbalance model, and smoking.

The effect of nicotine on basophil histamine release

Background:Changes in the immune and inflammatory response are induced by smoking tobacco but underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated.

Implementation of workplace-based smoking cessation support activities and smoking cessation among employees:the Finnish Public Sector Study

We investigated the relationship between implementation of workplace smoking cessation support activities and employee smoking cessation.

Do smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease report their smoking status reliably?:A comparison of self-report and bio-chemical validation

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is predominantly caused by cigarette smoking and is considered a worldwide preventable chronic illness. Smoking cessation is considered the primary intervention for disease management and nurses should play a major role in assisting patients to stop smoking. Currently there is a lack of professional consensus on how cessation interventions should be evaluated. The vast array of biochemical markers reported in the literature can be confusing and can make the comparisons of results difficult.

Dietary intake, smoking, and transient anti-gliadin antibodies

The detection of IgA anti-gliadin antibodies in adults can either be helpful in the diagnosis of coeliac disease, be persistent in subjects with normal jejunal mucosa, or occur transiently. We decided to investigate the effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, and dietary intake on the development of IgA anti-gliadin antibodies.

Cigarette smoking and random serum cholesterol levels in a Northern Ireland general practice population of 18- to 20-year-old students and non-students

Coronary heart disease is the commonest cause of death in Northern Ireland, but few data exist on the incidence of risk factors in young adult students and non-students.