Smoking behavior in men hospitalized with cardiovascular disease in Korea: a cross-sectional descriptive study.
OBJECTIVE
Korean men have the highest rate of smoking in the world, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the second leading cause of death in this population. The study's objective was to describe factors related to smoking behavior in men hospitalized with CVD in Korea.


METHODS
In collecting data for this cross-sectional study, a structured questionnaire was administered using a guided interview and medical record abstraction.


RESULTS
The study sample included 97 men with a mean age of 54.1 (+/-9.6) years. Most of the men were married (85.6%) and employed (79.4%), and had graduated from high school or higher levels of education (74.2%). Sixty-five percent of the men were addicted to nicotine. Lower education (odds ratio [OR]: 3.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-10.14), starting to smoke at an early age (OR: 3.30, 95% CI: 1.14-9.50), and smoking more cigarettes per day (OR: 9.71, 95% CI: 2.31-40.90) were statistically significant independent predictors of their level of addiction. Twenty-two percent of the men smoked during their hospitalization, a behavior that was significantly associated only with their intention to quit smoking (OR: .09, 95% CI: .03-.31).


CONCLUSIONS
This was the first study to investigate smoking behavior in men hospitalized with CVD in Korea. Its findings strongly suggest that smoking-cessation intervention is needed in this population and that Korean health care providers must be properly educated and trained to provide this service.
Sohn
Min
M
Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, California State University East Bay, Hayward, California 94542, USA.
Benowitz
Neal
N
Stotts
Nancy
N
Christopherson
Dianne
D
Kim
Kyung Soo
KS
Jang
Yang Soo
YS
Ahn
Mi Sook
MS
Froelicher
Erika Sivarajan
ES
D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011584:Psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology