title: Rural smokers - a prevention opportunity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable death and disease in Australia. This study describes smoking prevalence and the characteristics of rural smokers to guide general practitioners in targeting particular groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross sectional surveys in the Greater Green Triangle region of southeast Australia using a random population sample (n=1563, participation rate 48.7%) aged 25-74 years. Smoking information was assessed by a self administered questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Complete smoking data were available for 1494 participants. Overall age adjusted current smoking prevalence was 14.9% (95% CI: 13.1-16.7). In both genders, current smoking prevalence decreased with age. Those aged 25-44 years were more likely to want to stop smoking and to have attempted cessation, but less likely to have received cessation advice than older smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides baseline smoking data for rural health monitoring and identifies intervention opportunities. General practice is suited to implement interventions for smoking prevention and cessation at every patient encounter, particularly in younger individuals.royal, australian, college, general, practitioner, gp, doctor, medical, practice, racgp, health, care, medication, information, practitioners, family, physician, 2009, AFP, May, sleep, rural, smokers, prevention
authors.affiliation: Greater Green Triangle University Department of Rural Health, Flinders and Deakin Universities, Warrnambool, Monash University, Victoria. anna.chapman@med.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bunker
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunbar
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Philpot
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baird
authors.forename: Erkki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vartiainen
authors.forename: Tiina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laatikainen
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Janus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires