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- Original Article A survey on prevalence of smoking and knowledge and attitude towardsmoking in female industrial workers.
- Soon Ok Choi, Jung Han Park
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Epidemiol Health 1991;13(2):146-158
DOI: https://doi.org/
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Abstract
To define the prevalence of smokers among the female industrial workers and their knowledge and attitude toward smoking, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted on 1,478 female workers of six electric and textile manufacturing industries in Gumi Industrial Complex in May-June, 1990. Of the 1,388 workers who completed the questionnaire. 7.3% was current smokers and 4.5% was exsmokers. The prevalence of smoker increased with age. The prevalence of smoker was higher in the married workers than in the single women, in the workers living with their family than in those at the domitory, and in the primary school or college graduates than in the middle or high school graduates. Such differential prevalence rates, however, was attributed to the increased prevalence of smokers with age. Regarding the health effect of smoking, 91.7% of the non-smokers answered that it is harmful while 54.4% of the current smokers answered so. About three quarters of the respondents regarded the nicotine harmful but most of them answered that tar, carbonmonoxide, and other chemical materials are not harmful. Eighty percent of the respondents acknowledged the harmful effects of smoking on the respiratory disease but only about 30% acknowledged the harmful effects on the gastric and duodenal ulcer, heart disease and liver disease. The percentage of the respondents who believed that the smoking lowers the brain function was 85.5% among the non-smokers and 63.4% among the smokers. The percentage of the respondents who approved the harmful effect of passive smoking was 96.2% among the non-smokers and 85.1% among the smokers. Also 94.3% of the non-smokers approved the fact that smoking during the pregnancy is very harmful to fetus and 70.3% of the smokers approved the fact. One quarter of the current smokers have had education for anti-smoking and 60% of the women who had anti-smoking education strongly supported the necessity of such education. Among all the study subjects, 62.5% wanted to make the smokers stop smoking through anti-smoking education, 17.1% wanted to arrange smoking rooms, and 13.6% wanted to prohibit smoking at the workplaces. Such findings as many of the respondents had no accurate knowledge about the health effects of smoking and many of them demanded the anti-smoking education suggest that the anti-smoking education program is needed for the working women.
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