Investigation on smoking status and its costs in residents in Zhejiang Province

Objective This study was made to investigate the prevalence of smoking, passive smoking, quitting smoking and smoking cost so as to explore the knowledge, attitude toward smoking in residents in Zhejiang Province, and to provide evidence for smoking control and health decision. Methods A total of 7482 residents aged 15-69 selected in representative 30 counties through multi-stage random sampling from Zhejiang Province were surveyed by using questionnaire. Results The smoking rate was 29.40% in Zhejiang Province, in which that of male being 57.31%, female 1.08%. The rate of passive smoking was 43.70%, in which males 38.52%, females 45.96%. The rate of quitting smoking was 16.26%, in which males 15.68%, females 27.27%.The average number of cigarettes smoked was 17.83 per day, of which 15.25 per day in urban, and 18.89 per day in rural. The average cost of cigarettes was 6.38RMB per day, of which 8.02 RMB per day in urban, 5.71RMB in rural. 6.90% of the males and 3.04% of the females thought that smoking had no harm to people, while 8.05%of the males and 4.95% of the females thought that passive smoking has no harm to people.91.34% of the people supported banning of smoking in school, and 90.56% supported banning of smoking in hospital. Conclusion The prevalence of smoking in Zhejiang Province was high, and the cost of smoking was huge. The task of controlling smoking was arduous.