Prevalence and correlates of light and non-daily smoking in Brazil: Results from a nationwide representative survey

- Our study highlights the high prevalence of light and non-daily smokers in Brazil.
- We described the characteristics associated with light and non-daily smokers.
- Light and non-daily smoking is associated with health-related conditions.
- Low-level smokers are less likely to seek treatment for tobacco cessation.
- Longitudinal studies are needed to further characterize low-level smokers.

BackgroundThe research of light (≤10 cigarettes per day) and non-daily smokers in developing countries including Brazil is scarce despite the high prevalence of these groups among smokers and health risks associated to low-level smoking.ObjectiveTo describe health and smoking characteristics of Brazilian adult light and non-daily smokers.MethodsWe analyzed data from the 2013 Brazilian National Health Research survey (n = 48,282).ResultsThe prevalence of current manufactured cigarette smoking in the total sample was 12.4%. Among these smokers, 12.8% were non-daily smokers (NDS), 47.4% were light smokers (LS) and 39.8% were moderate/heavy smokers (MHS). Bivariate analysis showed that non-daily smoking was associated with higher odds of poor self-rated health, binge drinking and lung diseases compared to never smokers (ORs = 1.2; 5.9 and 1.9). Light smoking was associated with higher odds of poor self-rated health, binge drinking, depression, use of sleeping pills and lung diseases (ORs = 1.3; 4.3; 1.4; 1.2 and 2.0). After controlling for sex and age, non-daily smoking was associated with lung disease (OR = 2.2) and light smoking with depression and lung diseases (ORs = 1.3 and 1.8). Smoking levels were associated with living with same-level smokers in bivariate and multivariate analyses.ConclusionA large proportion of smokers in Brazil are light and non-daily smokers, carrying substantial health risks related to tobacco use. Longitudinal research is needed to provide further evidence of associations found in this study. Public health policies must take the different smoking patterns into consideration to effectively target all smokers and reduce the harmful consequences of tobacco worldwide.