Factors associated with smokers' will for smoking cessation in Korea

Background: Smoking is known to increase the risk of chronic disease. Understanding of factors that contribute to smoking cessation may help to develop strategies for smoking behavior change. Aims and objectives: We aimed to evaluate the factors that contribute to smokers9 will for smoking cessation. Methods: Pooled cross-sectional data of 11,924 subjects from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2012 were analyzed. The stages of change in smoking cessation were categorized into pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation groups. Baseline characteristics, socioeconomic and psychological status, quality of life, and tobacco-related factors were compared between the groups. Results: The study population consisted of 32.4% in pre-contemplation, 54.4% in contemplation, and 13.1% in preparation group. While the proportion for pre-contemplation group tended to decrease from 2001 to 2012, that of preparation group tended to increase. Upon adjusting analysis for demographic and clinical factors, the proportion of pre-contemplation group increased with increasing age (OR 1.01; 95% CI 1.01-1.02), and smoking amount (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.03-1.05). People of pre-contemplation group (vs. preparation) were less educated (OR 1.99; 95% CI 1.51-2.62), were in single marital status (OR 1.25; 95% CI 1.04-1.50), had lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease (OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.31-0.76), and did less walking exercise (OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.09-1.69) and weight training (OR 1.59; 95% CI 1.35-1.85). Conclusions: We demonstrated a significant association between age, education, marital status, cardiovascular disease and amount of exercise with the stages of change in smoking cessation in the Korean population.