Background:
Findings on the associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and quit intention and quit attempts (QA) are mixed. In France, in 2014, no association was found between SES and neither desire to quit, nor QA in the last 12 months. Smoking prevalence has decreased since then and it is important to update these observations in order to adapt smoking cessation interventions, particularly in the context of major psychological changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective:
To study the factors associated with desire to quit, plan to quit in the next 6 months and 7-day QA in the last 12 months, in France, in 2021.

Methods:
The analysis is based on the Santé publique France Health Barometer, a general population survey carried out by phone using random digit dialing. Factors associated with outcomes variables were assessed using logistic regressions on 4733 daily smokers aged 18–75 years, adjusting on nicotine dependence.

Results:
Desire to quit was associated with being a male (AOR=1.2; 95% CI: 1.1–1.4, p<0.01), aged 35–54 years (AOR=1.4; 95% CI: 1.2–1.6, compared with those aged 18–34 years, p<0.001) and major depression in the last 12 months (AOR=1.4; 95% CI: 1.2–1.7, p<0.001), but not with SES. Plan to quit in the next 6 months was less frequent among manual workers (AOR=0.8; 95% CI: 0.6–1.0, compared with professional workers, p<0.05). QA were associated with being a male (AOR=1.4; 95% CI: 1.2–1.6, p<0.001), aged 18–34 years, a high school graduate (AOR=1.3; 95% CI: 1.1–1.5, compared with lower grade, p<0.05) and major depression (AOR=1.2; 95% CI: 1.0–1.5, p<0.05). Alcohol use was negatively associated with all outcomes.

Conclusions:
While desire to quit smoking was independent of SES, manual workers were less likely to plan to quit in the next future and lower educated smokers were less likely to try to quit. Associations with alcohol use and depression were observed. These results are useful to guide the design of future prevention interventions.