Smoking Awareness and Intention to Quit Smoking in Smoking Female Workers: Secondary Data Analysis

Although the smoking rate among women has been continuously increasing recently, it is very difficult to explore the actual situation because of negative social views. This study aimed to analyze the effects of smoking awareness and living environment on the intention to quit smoking among female smokers. After receiving approval from the Research Ethics Committee in September 2021, secondary data analysis was performed for this study. A total of 378 working women who smoked were included in this study. The mean age was 34.4 years. The results showed that women living alone had significantly lower intentions to quit smoking, and women with experience in smoking cessation education had significantly higher intentions to quit smoking. In addition, it was found that the group having awareness of smoking cessation policy and smoking cessation treatment had high intention to quit smoking. As a result of the analysis of decision trees using data mining techniques, the strongest predictor of the intention of female workers who smoke to quit smoking was their perception of smoking cessation policies. In addition, it was found that the state's policy support was important in that the group with the highest intention to quit smoking was the one with high awareness of both the smoking cessation policy and smoking cessation treatment. Finally, the risk group with the lowest intention to quit smoking was the group with low awareness of the anti-smoking policy, living alone, and having low awareness of the harmfulness of cigarettes. The importance of establishing policies for this vulnerable group, smoking cessation policies and treatment of female smokers, and improving awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco are discussed.