Factors influencing cigarette smoking and quantified implications for anti-smoking policy: evidence from South Korea

The aim of this study was to determine the factors that are associated with adult males' smoking in South Korea and simulate the effects of a potential anti-smoking policy.

We conducted a national, cross-sectional, telephone survey among males aged 20 years and older in 2006 and analyzed a dataset of 2,847 subjects by using the full information maximum likelihood sample selection model.

The likelihood of smoking was highest among the wealthy, employed, Christian, or people who exercise regularly. The low rate of smoking participation was associated with either low pure alcohol intake or increased awareness of lung cancer from smoking. We found that policies to reduce cigarette consumption should focus on lowering smoking participation rather than the amount of cigarettes smoked. Compared to the current state, a policy package consisting of mutually reinforcing measures could reduce the probability of smoking and the average number of cigarettes consumed among all adult males by 34 and 51%, respectively.

Understanding the country-specific factors affecting smoking behavior and selecting an appropriate anti-smoking measure could greatly reduce smoking participation and cigarette consumption.