Smoking behaviors among urban and rural residents aged 40-74 years in Haining city

Objective To examine the characteristic of smoking behavior among urban and rural residents in Haining city of Zhejiang province, and provide a scientific basis for effective implementation of tobacco control.Methods Based on the data on smoking from a screening survey for colorectal cancer in Haining city from March to September 2012, 90 266 residents aged 40-74 years were selected with cluster sampling from 3 rural towns and 2 urban communities for a questionnaire survey on smoking and its related factors.Results The overall smoking rate among the residents was 33.03%; the male residents had a significantly higher smoking rate than the female residents(66.29% vs.0.67%, χ²=43 920.687; P<0.001).Compared to that among the urban residents, the smoking rate was significantly higher among the rural residents(35.42% vs. 27.39%, χ²=549.159; P<0.001) and the rural males(70.52% vs. 55.88%, χ²=878.091; P<0.001), but significantly lower among the rural females(0.52% vs. 1.01%, χ²=878.091; P<0.001).The male residents of 50-54 years old and the female of 70-74 years had the highest smoking rate compared to the residents of same gender of other ages.Among the smokers, the age of starting smoking ranged from 9 to 70 years old, with an average age of 22.90±4.94 years;68.14% smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day and 65.41% had a smoking index of greater than 400; 7.49% reported smoking cessation and there was no significant gender difference in the ratio(7.50% for the male vs. 6.56% for the female, χ²=0.386, P=0.653); and the urban smokers had a significantly higher cessation rate than the rural smokers(10.16% vs. 6.62%, χ²=100.547; P<0.001).Conclusion In Haining city, the rural residents have a higher smoking rate than urban residents and the smokers have a younger age of starting smoking and a greater proportion of heavy smoking; the results suggest that tobacco control still faces major challenges in the city.