Abstract

The effect of socioeconomic status on adolescent smoking behaviors is unclear, and sparse studies are available about the potential association. The present study aimed to measure and explain socioeconomic inequality in smoking behavior among a sample of Iranian adolescents. In a cross-sectional survey, a multistage sample of adolescents (n = 1,064) was recruited from high school students in Zanjan city, northwest of Iran. Principal component analysis was used to measure economic status of adolescents. Concentration index was used to measure socioeconomic inequality in smoking behavior, and then it was decomposed to reveal inequality contributors. Concentration index and its 95 confidence interval for never, experimental, and regular smoking behaviors were 0.004 -0.03, 0.04, 0.05 0.02, 0.11, and -0.10 -0.04, -0.19, respectively. The contribution of economic status to measured inequality in experimental and regular smoking was 80.0% and 68.8%, respectively. Household economic status could be targeted as one of the relevant factors in the unequal distribution of smoking behavior among adolescents.