Factors Influencing Smoking Behavior Among Japanese Employees: A Cross-Sectional Study

Globally, smoking causes several health risks, burdening public health and economic productivity. Evaluating employees' smoking cessation tendencies is crucial for companies and the nation. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between sociodemographic factors and three key determinants of smoking cessation: health literacy, decision balance, and self-efficacy among company employees.

This cross-sectional study was conducted from October to November 2023 with manufacturing industrial workers in Hiroshima city. All 1,519 company employees were the study participants and were enrolled according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study survey included three individual-developed scales: health literacy, smoking abstinence self-efficacy, and decision balance.

A total of 820 participants responded to the whole survey, and their data were analyzed. Among them, 636 (77.6%) were men and 184 (22.4%) were women with various age groups. The highest number of participants, 151 (18.4%), were working in the Hiroshima Gas Techno-Service, and the smallest, 17 (2.1%), in the Hiroshima Gas Life. Most participants are nonsmokers, 625 (76.2%), while 195 (23.8%) are smokers. The binary logistic regression revealed that female nonsmoker participants (p < 0.001), those in the 20-year-old age group (p = 0.006), and individuals in management positions (p = 0.029) have a statistically significant association with smoking status. No significant difference was found in the mean score on health literacy, while the smoking abstinence self-efficacy scale (p <0.001) had a strong relationship with smoking behavior. Regarding the decision balance scale, the high responses in the pros showed a better statistical significance (p < 0.002), indicating that smokers did not significantly perceive the benefits of decision balance related to smoking.

Understanding smoking behavior and the factors influencing cessation efforts remains a critical public health priority. This study identified age, gender, self-efficacy, and decision balance as key factors associated with smoking cessation tendencies.