Smoking behaviors and tobacco consumption of smokers among residents in Jiangsu province

Objective To explore smoking behaviors as well as tobacco consumption of smokers among residents in Jiangsu province.Methods Questionnaire interviews were conducted among 8 400 adults aged 18 years and above selected from 14 disease surveillance areas in Jiangsu province with multistage cluster sampling.Results The overall prevalence of cigarette smoking was 27.1%among the adults,with a significant gender difference(56.9% for males and 2.5% for females,P<0.01).With the increase of age and education,the current smoking rate increased first and then decreased.Among the current smokers,the median number of cigarette consumed per day was 15 and the heavy smoking rate(over 20 cigarettes per day)was 48.4% for the males and 23.7% for the females,respectively.For the current smokers aged 35-64 years and with middle school or lower education,the proportion of heavy smoker was more than 50%.The median price of cigarettes consumed by the current smokers was 7 Yuan(RMB)per package,and 62.1%of male smokers bought cigarettes at the price between 5-19 Yuan per package and 64.7%of female smokers bought cigarettes at the price less than 5 Yuan per package.Higher proportions of the smokers buying cigarettes at the price<5 Yuan per package were observed among the current smokers at older age,with lower education and lower family income.The median cost of tobacco consumption for a smoker per month was 150 Yuan,and 38.5%of male smokers spent over 200 Yuan per month and 82.4%of the females spent less than 100 Yuan per month.Only 34.5%of urban smokers spent over 300 Yuan per month and 44.3%of rural smokers spent less than 100 Yuan per month,respectively.Conclusion The prevalence of smoking and the number of cigarettes consumed by a smoker per day were high in male adults in Jiangsu province.The proportion of smokers consuming cigarettes with low price was high,indicating raising tobacco tax and price may be effective in the control of tobacco consumption,heavy smoking behaviors and current smoking rate.