Comparative study on cigarette smoking between urban and rural residents in Hebei province

  Objective   To understand cigarette smoking in urban and rural residents in Hebei province and to provide evidences for policy making in tobacco control.

  Methods   16 640 residents aged 15 or elder were randomly selected by multiple stages sampling and sur veyed by using standardized questionmaires.

  Results   The current cigarette smoking rate of the total samples was 26.08%.The smoking rate among rural samples was significantly higher than that among urban samples.It significantly varied with sex, age, marital status and occupation.The average init ial smoking age was 21.76.The average amount of daily cigarette consuming was 15.26.It was significantly higher in rural areas than that in urban areas.There was a ten dency to increase in the current amount of daily smoking compared with the amount of two years ago.

  Conclusion   The smoking rate of residents in Hebei was lower than that of national level and higher than that of the provincial level surveyed in 1998.The smoking rate in rural communities was much higher than that in urban communities.