Objective   To explore the prevalence of smoking among residents aged 18 years and above in Gansu province for providing evidences to promote tobacco control in the population.

  Methods   Using stratified multistage random sampling, we conducted a face-to-face questionnaire survey among 7 750 residents aged ≥ 18 years at 8 national and 6 provincial level disease surveillance points across Gansu province from August 2013 to December 2014.

  Results   In all the residents, the number of smokers, current smokers, and daily smokers were 2 311, 1931, and 1 706; the rate of smoking, current smoking, and daily smoking were 29.8%, 24.9%, and 22.0%, respectively; the smoking rate differed significantly by age, gender and geographical area of living (all P < 0.05) and the rate of current and daily smoking varied significantly by age, gender, geographical area of living, and living region (urban or rural) (all P < 0.05). The average number of cigarettes smoked by current smokers was 15.90 ± 10.13 and the number was significantly different for the current smokers of different gender, at different ages, living in various geographical areas and living in different regions (P < 0.001 for all). Among all the smokers, 380 (16.4%) reported the experience of smoking cessation and 280 (12.6%) quitted smoking successfully; both the rates of smoking cessation and successful smoking cessation differed significantly by age, gender, geographical area of living, and living region (all P < 0.05).

  Conclusion   In Gansu province, the rate of smoking, current smoking and daily smoking were high among adult residents; among smokers, the average smoking amount per day was relatively high but the rate of smoking cessation and successful smoking cessation were low; the results should be concerned for the promotion of effective tobacco control in the population.