Trends in Lung Cancer Mortality in Scotland and Their Relation to Cigarette Smoking and Social Class

Abstract

This paper describes the trends in lung cancer rates in Scottish men and women during 1959–85, the relationship between lung cancer and cigarette consumption, and between lung cancer and social class, and the urban-rural gradient of lung cancer. Lung cancer rates in Scottish men have declined in all age groups under the age of 74 for at least the past two decades; the most notable decrease was in men aged 40–44 years, whose rates halved between 1970 and 1980. In women, who began smoking in large numbers only after World War II, lung cancer mortality declined slightly in those between 40–54 years and rose in those over 54 years. Trends in cigarette consumption did not fully explain the decline in lung cancer. Marked urban-rural gradients in the SMRs for lung cancer were evident in all periods, and these strengthened over time. Correlations between lung cancer and social class differed markedly from those found in previous studies, except for those with social classes II and V.