Socioeconomic Status Across the Life Course and Smoking Cessation Among Older Adult Smokers in the U.S

Introduction: Socioeconomic status (SES) at different stages of the life course impacts late-life health. However, whether SES across the life course impacts smoking cessation in late-life is not known.

Purpose: Assess how life course SES impacts smoking cessation among older smokers.

Methods: We identified 5,124 smokers, 50 years and older, from the 1998 to 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. The outcome was self-reported smoking cessation. The main exposure was life course SES, defined as: low child and low adult SES (persistent low); low child, high adult SES (upward mobility); high child, low adult SES (downward mobility); and high child, high adult SES (persistent high). A multilevel mixed-effect logistic model was used to examine how life course SES predicts smoking cessation at age 65 and over time, adjusted for covariates.

Results: Compared to those with persistent high SES, those with persistent low SES, upward and downward SES were more likely to be Hispanic or non-Hispanic Black. The adjusted results showed that at age 65, compared to those with persistent high SES, those with persistent low SES (OR= 0.69, 95 % CI = [0.51-0.92]), upward SES (OR= 0.49, [0.32-0.75]), and downward SES (OR= 0.55, [0.40-0.76]) were less likely to quit. However, as age increased, only those with downward or persistent low SES were significantly less likely to quit compared to those with persistent high SES.

Discussion: Social mobility of SES from childhood to adulthood significantly impacts smoking cessation. Both stages of the life course should be considered to understand smoking behaviors.