Association between smoking and perceived social support among Tehranian adults: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

Smoking has been shown to be associated with different psycho-social factors including individuals’ perception of social support. Nevertheless, investigations on relationship between smoking and perceived social support and its sources i.e. family, friends and significant others in an Iranian population was so rare. This study aimed to investigate the association between smoking and perceived social support among an urban Iranian population. This cross-sectional study was conducted between 2014-2016 in the framework of Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) on 1068 adults aged ≥ 20. Perceived social support was assessed using Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20 using χ2 and Mann Whitney tests, and binary regression method. Mean age of participants was 49.9±15.0 years and 59.4% of them were female. 9.2% of participants were smokers and most smokers were male (76.5%). Non-smokers reported higher scores in perceived social support from family (p=0.040) and significant others (p=0.036) compared to smokers. Smokers were more likely to report low perceived social support from family compared to their non-smokers counterparts in adjusted models 2.04 (95%CI: 1.11-3.73, p<0.05). Smokers were more likely to perceive low familial support compared to non-smokers. Considering the importance of perceived social support from family, this finding can be applied in future interventions aiming at reducing smoking among Tehranian adults.