[Study on smoking pattern and related factors among residents aged over 15 years in Guangdong province].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of smoking and related factors among residents aged over 15 years in Guangdong province. METHODS: Sampling survey, descriptive analysis and nonconditional logistic regression. RESULTS: Rates on general smoking, current smoking, regular smoking and heavy smoking among male residents aged over 15 years were 70.03%, 66.57%, 65.16% and 35.47% respectively and those among females were 3.04%, 2.67%, 2.54% and 1.12% respectively. There was significant difference between sex distribution. 86.71% of the male smokers started smoking at 15 to 29 years old, while the age distribution of noset of smoking among females was more scattered. Main reasons of starting smoking were to experience with social pressure and getting rid of feelings of fatigue. Tobacco products they often smoked included filter tip cigarette, handmade cigarette or dry cigarette. 52.42% of the smokers claimed that they often smoked in public places. 66.7% of the residents believed that smoking was either no harm or just minor while, 35.5% of them believed that smoking could get rid of fatigue and enhance the efficiency of work. Sex, age, occupation, marriage status and knowledge about the harm of smoking to health were factors related to smoking. CONCLUSION: Smoking has laid great harm to the health of residents in Guangdong province. Health education, stopping smoking in public places and no advertisement of cigarette under the management of laws are the best way to control the harm of smoking.