Understanding ethnic inequities associated with tobacco use in Aotearoa New Zealand: a quantitative analysis

Abstract

Despite the inclusion of both individual interventions and population-based measures in the Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa NZ) Tobacco Control Programme, the gap between Māori, Pacific peoples and European/Asian/Other (EAO) populations in tobacco use has not decreased significantly. Tobacco control interventions that focus on individual behaviour change have produced little impact towards reducing tobacco smoking inequities for Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa NZ. Using data from the New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS), this research investigates the impact of the wider determinants of health and individual-level factors on inequities in tobacco use between Māori, Pacific peoples and EAO. A conceptual framework was developed to support the theoretical positioning of this research and to inform data categorization, framing, discourse, analyses and interpretation. We conducted hierarchical regression to examine the effect of factors from each domain on ethnic inequities in tobacco use. We found that socioeconomic factors accounted for a significant amount of the disparity in adults currently smoking between Māori and Pacific peoples and EAO. Our results suggest that socioeconomic factors may be a more effective target of intervention than individual behaviours for reducing tobacco-related inequities. Addressing the broader determinants of health through comprehensive cross-agency cooperation to reduce ethnic inequities in tobacco use in Aotearoa NZ is likely to be more effective than individual behaviour change approaches.

Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand; Māori; Pacific peoples; ethnic inequities; social determinants of health; tobacco use.