Prevalence of Smoking among Iranian Adults: Findings of the National STEPs Survey 2016

Tobacco smoking is one of the most important avoidable causes of mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This study aimed to report the crude and standardized prevalence of current, ever, and secondhand smoking at national and provincial levels.

This study was performed through an analysis of the results of the STEPs survey 2016, which was conducted as a cross-sectional national study. The samples were selected via multistage cluster sampling and they were representative of general population aged ≥18 years in all provinces of Iran. All the data were analyzed via survey analysis while considering population weights. Age-standardized prevalence was also calculated for the Iranian national population in 2016 and the World Health Organization (WHO) Population 2000-2025.

A total of 29963 subjects aged ≥18 years from all provinces of Iran, except for Qom, participated in this study. The age standardized prevalence of current tobacco smoking among adult males and females were 24.4% (95% CI: 23.6%–25.1%) and 3.8% (95% CI: 3.5%–4.1%), respectively. Among the participants, the majority of the current smokers were among those aged 45-54 years (14.5%; 95% CI: 13.6%–15.5%). With increase in age, the prevalence of secondhand smoking decreased to 34.8% (95% CI: 33.3%–36.7%) among people aged 18–24 years and to 22·6% (95% CI: 21.0%–24.3%) among subjects over 70 years.

The result of the study can be used to inform policy makers about the status of smoking and help them to design policies for setting rules on and limiting the import of cigarettes and their components to the country.