The rate of smoking among soldiers of the People's Armed Police Force
HUANG Wenfu1, TANG Guorui2, LONG Jingke2, ZHANG Yiyang2, YAN Dingfa2, LIU Zihao2, SHEN Gaofeng2, QUAN Zhuo3
1. Outpatient Department,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Corps Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Force,Nanning 530003,China; 2. Health Team of Detachment of liuzhou,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Corps of PAP,liuzhou 545005,China; 3. Department of Gastroenterology and Respiratory Medicine, Hospital 943 of Joint Logistics Support Force of PLA, Wuwei 733001, China
Abstract：Objective To find out about the level of knowledge, attitude and behavioral tendencies associated with smoking in Chinese People's Armed Police Force and to provide data for tobacco control in the army. Methods A self-designed questionnaire about smoking was used to investigate the rate of smoking among 260 recruits and 217 veterans in a unit of the Armed Police. The relationships between their perceptions, attitudes and behavioral tendencies regarding smoking were analyzed. Results The overall smoking rate of soldiers was 37.32%(178/477), compared with 62.67%(136/217) for veterans and 16.15%(42/260) for recruits. The difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Most of the soldiers took up smoking at high school (75.28%), and the rate of smoking was 13.48% after enlistment. Those who were somewhat ignorant of hazards of smoking accounted for 33.75% (161/477). Generally, quite few of the soldiers were well-informed of the harm of cigarette smoking. The awareness rate of smoking-related respiratory diseases was the highest, and that of other system diseases was much lower.67.50% (322/477) of the soldiers believed that smoking was an undesirable habit, 84.91% (405/477) agreed to smoking ban, and 59.96% (286/477) tended to discourage smoking. 72.47% (129/178) of the smokers had been discouraged from smoking, and 70.79% (126/178) had the will to quit smoking. The rate of smoking depended on the level of education, perception of smoking hazards, opinions about smoking and attitudes towards smoking ban (P＜0.05). Conclusions The rate of smoking among soldiers remains relatively high, whose perceptions, attitudes and behavioral tendencies related to smoking need to be improved. Tobacco control in the army should center on veterans, improve the overall awareness of tobacco hazards, and create an external environment for banning and discouraging smoking.
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2022, Vol. 33 
