Which group of smokers is more vulnerable to the economic crisis?

Objectives: Studies investigating whether smoking increases or decreases during economic downturn provided contrasting results. For the first time, we used direct questions to analyse changes in smoking behaviour due to the 2008 financial crisis, comparing socio-economic characteristics of smokers who changed with those who kept their smoking intensity. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: We used data from three annual surveys conducted in Italy in 2012-2014 on representative samples of te Italian general population aged >_15 years. Results: A total of 1919 current smokers were asked specific questions on the influence of the economic crisis that started in 2008 on their smoking …