title: Cigarette brand preferences of smokers among university students in Japan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A survey on smoking behavior and relating factors among university students is necessary for establishing antismoking measures toward younger generation. To determine brand preferences of young smokers, we conducted a cross-sectional survey for students in a university.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous questionnaire was completed by the students at their annual health examinations. A total of 5688 students out of 7136 responded this survey (79.7%). The questionnaire included questions about smoking status, number of cigarettes smoked, brand preference, etc.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Smoking prevalence was 55.2% for males and 12.0% for females. Estimated consumption of Japanese-brand cigarettes was 46.8% for males and 36.1% for females, whereas that of American-brand cigarettes was 36.3% for males and 45.1% for females. These values are much higher than the market share of imported cigarettes in Japan (17.1% in 1992). Five American brands ranked in the top 10 brands among these university students, whereas only one American brand was ranked in the top 10 brands in the Japanese market in 1992. Smokers who prefer cigarettes with higher nicotine ratings were more likely to have a higher consumption rate than otherwise.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cigarette brand preference is an important aspect to realize the smoking behavior among young smokers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Tottori 683-8503, Japan. yoneatsu@grape.med.tottori-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoneatsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Osaki
authors.forename: Jiamo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanihata
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minowa
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities