Impact of global smoking prevalence on mortality: a study across income groups

Abstract

Background: Smoking significantly contributes to the mortality rates worldwide, particularly in non-communicable and preventable diseases such as cardiovascular ailments, respiratory conditions, stroke, and lung cancer. This study aims to analyse the impact of smoking on global deaths, and its association with mortality across the main income groups.

Methods: The comprehensive analysis spans 199 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. The study categorises countries into four income groups: high income, upper middle income, lower middle income, and low income.

Results: The findings underscore the profound impact of global tobacco smoking on mortality. Notably, cardiovascular disease mortality is notably affected in both upper-middle-income and high-income groups. Chronic respiratory disease mortality rates show a significant impact across all income groups. Moreover, stroke-related mortality is observed in the lower-middle, upper-middle, and high-income groups. These results highlight the pervasive influence of smoking prevalence on global mortality, affecting individuals across various socioeconomic levels.

Conclusion: The study underscores the critical implications of smoking on mortality rates, particularly in high-income countries. It emphasises the urgency of targeted interventions in these regions to address the specific challenges posed by tobacco smoking on public health. Policy recommendations include implementing prohibitive measures extending to indoor public areas such as workplaces and public transportation services. Furthermore, allocating funds for research on tobacco and health, is imperative to ensure policymakers are consistently informed about emerging facts and trends in this complex domain.

Keywords: Cardiovascular deaths; Global smoking; Health; Lung cancer deaths; Mortality; Respiratory deaths; Smoking; Smoking prevalence; Stroke deaths.

Fig. 1

Summary of descriptive statistics illustrated as a violin plot by critical variables Source: Authors’ illustrations based on data

Fig. 2

Income group-wise averaged variables from 1990–2019 Source: Authors’ illustrations based on data