Cigarette Smoking Patterns Among Students Attending a Christian University in Seoul, Korea

Park, Tai Keun

Abstract

To get an estimates of the prevalence of cigarette smoking and the attitudes of the students regarding smoking, questionnaire survey was conducted with 856 students from each class out of 4 different years. Overall, 68.5 percent of male students interviewed were current smokers, as opposed to 7.4 percent of the women students. Most students started smoking before age 20 and smoked only filter-tip cigarettes. Even about half of current smokers consumed not more that 10 cigarettes daily, 55 percent of current smokers inhaled smoke into the chest. Cigarette smokers had a greater prevalence of phlegm production, related to their daily cigarette consumption and a higher average number of bed disability days. Most of the exsmokers stated that they had given up smoking because they feel sick when smoking. The decision to smoke seems mainly depends on a desire to follows the peer group attitudes. With regard to diffusion among college students and probably all high school graduates, a more logically designed prospective study would be necessary.