Smoking and Its Determinants in Chinese Internal Migrants: Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Data Analyses

Migrants often face multiple risk factors for smoking initiation. Former studies that have explored the smoking habits of Chinese migrants have provided inconsistent findings and lacked nationally representative samples.

Using data from the 2012 Migrant Dynamics Monitoring Survey in China published by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, this study explored current smoking rates and its determinants among migrants in China.

The smoking rates of men (46.9%, 46.3%-47.3%) and women (1.8%, 1.7%-1.9%) differed significantly. Although the overall smoking rates in migrants was slightly lower than in the general population, the rates in certain subgroups were much higher. Among men, the three leading associated factors were the following: higher smoking rates among the divorced or widowed (odds ratio [OR] = 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.34-1.74); lower smoking rates among those with an educational level of senior high school or above (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.71-0.76), and higher smoking rates in the migrant-receiving area (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.18-1.42). Among women, smoking rates were also higher in the migrant-receiving area (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.34-2.34), when monthly income was more than 3000 Renminbi (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.43-1.90), and among those with an educational level of senior high school or above (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.56-0.75). The social integration of migrants, the duration of stay, and working hours had weaker associations with smoking risk.

The sociodemographic features, work pressure, and migration-related features were sex-dependent determinants of smoking rates. These factors need to be considered when planning tobacco control interventions among migrants.

Our study was the first to analyze a nationally representative Chinese migrant sample with respect to smoking, its differential rates across various subgroups, and its determinants. Our results provided overall levels of migrant smoking rates. The findings also demonstrated the influences of sex, other sociodemographic variables, migration-related factors, work pressure, and social integration on the smoking habits of migrants. These results provide a database of information for developing and improving tobacco control interventions in migrants.