Status quo of smoking and alcohol drinking among women who have sex with women

Objective To examine current status of smoking and alcohol drinking among the women who have sex with women(WSW) in Liaocheng city of Shandong province for health intervention in the population.Methods A face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted among 78 WSW recruited with snowball sampling at karaoke rooms, bars and hotels in Liaocheng city of Shandong province between March and August 2015.Results The median age of the 78 WSW surveyed was 24.0 years;65.4% of the WSW were unmarried and 89.7% were with the education of high school or above.Among the WSW, 74.4% were smokers and the main reason for smoking was to relieve boredom and stress;84.6% of the WSW had alcohol drinking and more than a half of the drinkers consumed alcohol drinks together with lesbian friends or sexual partners.Totally 69.2% of the WSW were both smokers and alcohol drinkers.There were 84.5% of the smokers and 83.3% of the alcohol drinkers reporting perceived stress from family members and the public.Conclusion The prevalence rate of smoking and alcohol drinking are high among WSW in Liaocheng city and specific health education and behavior intervention should be carried out to control tobacco and alcohol dependence in the WSW.