• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.100-126
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure income differences in smoking prevalence at the district level and to investigate correlations among area deprivation, smoking prevalence, and income differences in smoking prevalence, stratified by urbanity. Methods: Data were pooled from the Community Health Survey data of South Korea between 2008 and 2014. The age-standardized prevalence of smoking and its interquintile income differences were calculated. We conducted correlation analyses to investigate the association of the deprivation index with smoking prevalence and interquintile differences in smoking prevalence. Results: Across 245 districts, the median prevalence of smoking in men was 45.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 43.4 to 48.5%), with an interquartile range (IQR) of 4.6% points. In women, the median prevalence was 3.0% (95% CI, 2.4 to 3.6%) and IQR was 1.6% points. The median interquintile difference in smoking prevalence was 7.4% points (95% CI, 1.6 to 13.2% points) in men and 2.7% points (95% CI, 0.5 to 4.9% points) in women. The correlation coefficients for the association between the deprivation index and smoking prevalence was 0.58, 0.15, -0.22 in metropolitan, urban, and rural areas, respectively, among men, and 0.54, -0.33, -0.43 among women. No meaningful correlation was found between area deprivation and interquintile difference in smoking prevalence. The correlation between smoking prevalence and interquintile difference in smoking prevalence was more evident in women than in men. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of geographical variations in smoking prevalence and interquintile difference in smoking prevalence. Neither smoking prevalence nor the deprivation index was closely correlated with interquintile income difference in smoking prevalence. Measuring inequalities in smoking prevalence is crucial to developing policies aimed at reducing inequalities in smoking.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.249-254
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• 2006

Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the factors related to the perceived peer smoking prevalence for adolescents. Methods: A self-administrated questionnaire was administered to 352 students in a technical high school in Kangwon Province in May, 2002. The questions included in the questionnaire were concerned with the estimated number of smokers among ten students of the same grade in their school, the sociodemographic characteristics, the smoking-related behaviors and attitudes, and the smoking-related environments. All the students had their expiratory carbon monoxide level measured with EC50 Micro-Smokerlyzer? to verify their smoking status. Multiple regression analysis was applied for data analysis using Windows SPSS 11.5. Results: The former and current smokers overestimated the peer smoking prevalence. Multiple regression analysis for estimating the peer smoking prevalence for the male showed that the perceived smoking prevalence was higher in the female students than in the male students, higher in those students whose mothers had a higher educational level, who had smoked more frequently, who had more best friends smoking, and who had a higher actual smoking rate of the class. For estimating the peer smoking prevalence for the female, the perceived smoking prevalence was higher in the female students than in the male students, higher in those who smoked more frequently, whose five best friends smoked, who had higher actual smoking rate of the class, and who had smoking siblings. Conclusions: This study showed that a higher perceived peer smoking rate is related with their own smoking history and smoking frequency, the smoking related environment, and gender. Smoking prevention and smoking cessation programs need to focus on correcting the falsely perceived smoking prevalence.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4245-4248
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• 2012

Background: Women make up half of the world's population, and comprise 20% of the world's one billion smokers. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of smoking among female medical students in comparison to female non-medical students, and to assess the importance of medical education and knowledge in decreasing the prevalence of smoking among female university students in Saudi Arabia. Method: We used a self-administered questionnaire to collect cross-sectional data from a randomly selected sample of 320 female students attending King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah. Medical students comprised 50% of the sample. Results: A total of 310 students (96.9%) completed and returned the questionnaire. The prevalence of smoking was higher in non-medical female students (4.2%) compared to medical female students (0.32%) (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking is low among female medical students compared to female non-medical students, presumably because of their awareness, level of education, and knowledge of the risks to health associated with smoking. Our study highlights the need for increased knowledge, health education, and awareness of the risks of smoking to reduce smoking among female university students.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.427-430
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• 2015

Background: Dokha is a novel form of smoking in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on which there is very little published literature, especially among adolescents, and this form of smoking has been not been addressed adequately in the smoking cessation strategies in the UAE. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of dokha smoking among male secondary school students in Ajman UAE. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted among male secondary school students in Ajman, UAE. A total of 560 participants filled in self-administered questionnaires. Results: The prevalence of ever smokers was 39%; ever dokha smokers was 36% and current dokha smokers was 24%. The prevalence is very high when compared to other forms of smoking in the region and globally. Prevalence increased with increasing age and grade of students, prevalence of ever smokers, ever dokha smokers and current dokha smokers was lower in students in the science stream. 40% of the smokers used dokha, cigarettes and shisha, 30% used dokha and cigarettes, and 21% used dokha alone. 30% of the students smoked dokha on all days of the month. Conclusions: The prevalence of ever smokers, ever dokha smokers and current dokha smokers is very high. There is an urgent need for specific health promotion programs tailored to this age group on prevention of dokha smoking and policies restricting the availability of dokha to this age group.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.495-511
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• 2016

Purpose: The present study was performed to describe the prevalence of various types of smoking statuses and to identify factors associated with different types among Korean wageworkers. Methods: The prevalence of hardcore smoking, daily smoking, and intermittent smoking was assessed in 2,126 wage workers from the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The associations of these three types of smoking statuses with sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions, and occupation-related characteristics were also examined in a multinomial logistic regression. Results: In men, the prevalence of hardcore smoking and daily smoking were 11.4% and 30.2%, respectively; and in women, the daily smoking prevalence was 5.6%. The education level was strongly associated with men's hardcore smoking and women's daily smoking. The household income and marital status were associated with women's daily smoking. Among occupation-related characteristics, the regularity of work and night work were associated with men's intermittent smoking. Night work was also associated with women's daily smoking. Employment condition was associated with women's intermittent smoking. Conclusion: The socioeconomic status and health conditions, compared with occupation-related factors, were found to have more influence on smoking. Therefore, antismoking programs that focus on individual characteristics should be developed for Korean wageworkers.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.204-213
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• 2015

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between working conditions and smoking among Korean employees using nationally representative data. Methods: We analyzed data from the Third Korean Working Conditions Survey to identify associations between various working conditions and smoking. We calculated the smoking prevalence depending on individual characteristics and working conditions. Also, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between working conditions and smoking. Results: Company size, occupation type, employment type, working hours, working-time flexibility, and smoking-area policy were related to smoking among male employees, while company size, occupation type, employment type, and smoking-area policy were associated with smoking prevalence among females. Conclusion: Our results indicate that working conditions influence smoking prevalence, and the implementation of smoke-free policies is needed to target specific working conditions, including a strict no-smoking-area policy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5539-5543
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• 2012

Objective: The smoking prevalence in Malaysia is high, especially among men and adolescents. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors towards cigarette smoking among school teachers in Malaysia. Methodology: This study was a school-based cross-sectional study conducted among 495 secondary school teachers. The questionnaire used in this study consisted of 29 questions categorized into two sections: socio-demographic characteristics and smoking behaviour. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program 13.0. ANOVA; t-tests were used in univariate analysis; multiple linear regression was applied for multivariate analysis. Results: The majority of the participants were female (81.6%), in the age group ranged between 30-39 years (44%), Malay (90.1%), married (89.7%), degree holders (85.1%), with monthly income ranged between 3000-3999 Ringgit Malaysia (33.5%), from urban areas (94.7%), their specialty is social studies (33.9%) and with no family history of cancer (83.6%). The prevalence of smoking among school teachers in Malaysia was found to be 7.8%. Regarding reasons to start smoking among school teachers: the major reason was found to be relaxation (33.3%), followed by stress-relief (28.2%). Univariate analysis showed that sex, educational status, monthly income and residency were significantly associated with smoking among school teachers (p<0.001, p=0.004, p=0.031, p=0.010; respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that gender and marital status were significantly associated with smoking among school teachers (p<0.001, p=0.033; respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking among school teachers in Malaysia was found to be relatively low. Sex, marital status, educational status, monthly income and residency were significantly associated with smoking among school teachers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1919-1923
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• 2013

Background: Smoking is known as a major risk factor for different types of cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease. Its prevalence is increasing in developing countries. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of smoking and its associated factors among the population aged 40-64 years in the city of Shahroud which is a representative urban population in Iran. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional population-based study with stratified random cluster sampling was conducted in 2009 as the first phase of Shahroud Eye Cohort Study. Of 6,311 people, 5,190 participated (82.2%). Information about smoking habit was obtained by face-to-face interview. Results: The overall prevalence of current tobacco smoking was 11.3% (95%CI: 10.5-12.3). It was significantly higher among males than females (25.7% and 0.71%, P<0.001). The prevalence of current cigarette smoking was 10.8% and 1.75% were past smokers. The smoking rate of water-pipe was 0.67%. Unemployed people smoked more than employed (OR=2.66, 95%CI: 1.38-5.14). Conclusions: The prevalence of smoking is low in Shahroud compared with other parts of Iran and other countries. Age, sex, job and marital status were associated with smoking. The low smoking rate among women may be attributed to cultural and social reasons.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1473-1478
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• 2016

Background: Cigarette smoking is as the leading cause of cancer mortality and other chronic diseases in males worldwide. The prevalence of cigarette smoking is different across and within countries by age, education level, occupation, and so on. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking and its relationship with individuals' demographic factors and BMI in adolescent men living in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: This study involved secondary analysis of the 'Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool-2' survey conducted in Tehran, Iran, among men aged 20+, 2011-2012. Using a multistage sampling method, 45,990 men were included in the study. The cigarette smoking status, BMI and demographic factors measured through a self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square, t-test, and logistic regression model were used to examine the relationships between the independents variables and cigarette smoking behavior, using SPSS software version 21. Results: In the total of 45,990 men, the overall prevalence of cigarette smoking was 14.6% (CI 95%: 14.29-14.94). Age (OR=0.96; CI 95%:0.94-0.98), house ownership (OR=0.68; CI 95%: 0.64-0.72), job status (OR=0.60; CI 95%: 0.46-0.86), marital status (OR=0.42; CI 95%: 0.39-0.47) and educational levels (OR=0.50; CI95%: 0.45-0.54) were associated with the prevalence of cigarette smoking. However, associations with BMI, family size, residency years, and district were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Given the relatively high prevalence of cigarette smoking in the study population, policy interventions are required to address this major public health issue, with a focus on the population demographic influences.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.4359-4366
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• 2014

Intention to smoke is a valid and reliable factor for predicting future smoking habits among adolescents. This factor, however, has received inadequate attention in Malaysia. The present paper elaborates the prevalence and factors associated with intent to initiate or to cease smoking, among adolescent nonsmokers and smokers in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. A total of 2,300 secondary school students aged 13-16 years were selected through a two-stage stratified sampling method. A set of standardized questionnaires was used to assess the smoking behavior among adolescents and the inter-personal and intra-personal factors associated with smoking intention (intention to initiate smoking or to cease smoking). Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors related to smoking intention. The prevalence of intention to smoke in the future or to cease smoking among non-smoking adolescents and current smokers were 10.7% and 61.7% respectively. Having friends who smoke, social influence, and poor knowledge about the ill effects on health due to smoking showed significant relationships with intention to smoke in the future among non-smokers. Conversely, perceived lower prevalence of smoking among peers, weak contributory social influence, and greater awareness of the ill effects of smoking are factors associated with the intention to cease smoking sometime in the future. The study found that prevalence of intention to initiate smoking is low among non-smokers while the majority of current smokers intended to cease smoking in the future. Existing anti-smoking programmes that integrate the factors that have been identified in the current study should be put in motion to reduce the prevalence of intention to initiate smoking and increase the intention to cease smoking among adolescents.