Gender Differences in Smoking Behaviors in an Asian Population

Abstract

Background: Gender-sensitive tobacco control policies are being challenged, and new directions are being sought because public health efforts have reduced cigarette consumption more substantially among men than among women. To better target women, it would help to identify the protective cultural factors that promote resiliency in women and discourage them from smoking. Whereas western cultures have generated a great deal of gender-specific research and programs on the prevention of smoking in women, Asian cultures have not. Taking a personal and sociocultural perspective, this study examines the effect of gender on smoking behaviors in Taiwan. Methods: In a 2004 cross-sectional random-sampled interview survey, 827 adult men and 90 adult women smokers in Taiwan were queried about the time they began smoking, maintenance of their habits, and their readiness to change. Results: The male/female smoking rate ratio was 9.5 (45.7% vs. 4.8%). Men smoked significantly more cigarettes per day than women (18 vs. 11). We found Taiwanese women started smoking around 20 years old, much later than their western counterparts. We also found that whereas the smoking behavior of the men was very sensitive to social environment and structural factors, that of women revolved around their desire to control their weight and handle their emotions. Conclusions: Differences in the smoking behavior of men and women are a result of a different sociocultural environment and the life trajectories and social circumstances embedded within it. Comprehensive tobacco control policies need to be tailored to not just smoking behavior alone or one population alone but to the determinants of smoking behavior in specific groups, for example, women. Even when targeting women, some effort may be needed on targeting women of different ethnicities, for instance, Asian women in whom the prevalence is increasing at alarming rates.

Pulmonary tuberculosis increases the risk of lung cancer

“…Differences in the smoking behavior of men and women were reported in a 2004 cross-sectional survey in Taiwan, with the smoking rate ratio of males/females being 9.5 (45.7% vs 4.8%) and the observation that men smoked significantly more cigarettes per day (18 vs 11). 22 Smoking is an important risk factor for lung cancer that could account for the sex discrepancy of the lung cancer incidence in our study.…”

Lung Cancer Risk in Females Due to Exposures to PM2.5 in Taiwan

“…In contrast, previous reports by other investigators have indicated that the RR for lung cancer mortality in US White smokers ranges from 8.1-22.4 that is much greater than those found in Asians, ranging from 2.7 to 3.8 [18]. As less than 5% of the female population in Taiwan smoke [2,3], the PM 2.5 breathed by Asian females seems to be responsible for a larger proportion of lung cancer deaths than those that could possibly be predicted by the first and second hand smoking. One reason could be due to the difference in the exposure concentrations (mean: 35.6 in Taiwan vs less than 20 µg/m 3 in the US) and/or the difference in the component composition of PM 2.5 .…”

“…Both ACS [25] and Harvard sixcities studies [26] on PM 2.5 followed this non-threshold assumption. The 20 µg/m 3 floor set up in our study may seem like a threshold, but this was done out of the reality that the lowest mean concentration throughout Taiwan was around 20 µg/m 3 and not much less in each of the 290 townships. The floor of 20 µg/m 3 reflects the high PM 2.5 exposure in Taiwan and the necessity to have a reference exposure group for calculating relative risks.…”

“…Much of the increase in men has been attributed to cigarette smoking, as every other adult male in Taiwan smoked, with smoking rates sustained around 45%-65% in the last 30 years [1]. In contrast, smoking rate in women was very low, only about one smoker out of 20, and has remained so for decades [2,3]. However, smoking alone does not explain the alarming increase of lung cancer in Taiwanese women.…”

Relationship Between BMI, Body image, and Smoking in Korean Women as Determined by Urine Cotinine: Results of a Nationwide Survey

“…Whereas men smoke in response to social stimuli related to their environment and social structure, women are more likely to smoke to relieve stress and induce weight loss. (Tsai et al, 2008), (Fidler and West, 2009) Although enjoyment and stress relief are well-known motivations for smoking, many people also believe that smoking helps to control weight, (Grunberg, 1997) leading to many studies on the relationship between smoking and weight loss. (Mack et al, 2004;Spring et al, 2009) A recent study showed that current smokers were greatly concerned with their weight and former smokers were on a diet to prevent cessation-related weight gain.…”