Association between indicators of childhood social status and smoking in an elderly population – the CARLA Study

Background: Several studies show an association of childhood socio-economic status (SES) with adult smoking; however, mostly paternal occupation only or aggregated indices are used. We investigated the role of different childhood SES indicators for adult smoking behaviour. Methods: Cross-sectional data of the CARLA Study (Cardiovascular disease, Living and Ageing in Halle) including 1779 men and women aged 45–83 were analysed. The four indicators of childhood SES were school education and occupational position of each parent. We used logistic regression models to calculate sex-stratified age-adjusted odds ratios…