Prevalence of nurses' smoking habits in psychiatric and general hospitals in China

This study determined the prevalence of lifetime and current smoking and the correlates of current smoking in nurses working in psychiatric and general hospitals in China. Of 807 distributed questionnaires, 799 nurses who were working in two psychiatric hospitals (n=387, 48.4%), and one general hospital (n=412, 51.6%) had analyzable data. Socio-demographic, alcohol use and smoking data were collected with a self-reported questionnaire. Work-related stress was evaluated with the Nurse Stress Inventory. In the whole sample, the lifetime smoking prevalence was 7.6% (females=2.1% vs. males=48.9%, p<0.0001; psychiatric nurses=14.5% vs. non-psychiatric nurses=1.2%, p<0.0001). The prevalence of current smoking was 7.1% (females=2.1% vs. males=44.7%, p<0.0001; psychiatric nurses=13.4% vs. non-psychiatric nurses=1.2%, p<0.0001). In a multiple logistic regression analysis, age 30 years or older, male gender, having children, being a psychiatric nurse and alcohol consumption were positively associated with smoking, while being a nursing officer was negatively associated with smoking (r(2) = 0.513, p<0.0001). Considering the harmful effects of smoking as well as second-hand smoking in the presence of children, effective measures to promote smoking cessation for male, older and psychiatric nurses and those with children are warranted.