Tobacco smoking among government employees in six cities in China.
OBJECTIVE
Employer-based tobacco control interventions have been highly successful in developed countries, and, recently, Chinese officials announced a focus on quitting among government employees. However, there are few data offering estimates of smoking prevalence among government workers from developing nations. In this study, we investigate smoking behaviours among government workers in six Chinese cities stratified by educational attainment and occupational grade.


METHODS
Individual-level study of Chinese government employees.


METHODS
Tobacco-Free Cities Initiative of China Tobacco Control Partnership.


METHODS
Employed adults aged 18-61 at government worksites in six cities were included (N=6176). Prevalence of current and former smoking across educational (postgraduate, graduate, high school, secondary school or less) and occupational (senior executives, mid-level managers, workers) groups were compared.


RESULTS
Overall prevalence of male current smoking was 40.7% (95% CI 39.1% to 42.4%). Age-adjusted smoking prevalence was lowest among those with a postgraduate degree (26.2% (95% CI 21.0% to 31.4%)) compared with those with lower levels of education (college (39.8%; 37.7% to 41.8%); high school (51.0%; 95% CI 45.0% to 57.0%); secondary or less (45.1%; 95% CI 40.3% to 49.8%)). There was no evidence of an association between current smoking and occupational grade. Prevalence of smoking was low in women (1.5%).


CONCLUSIONS
Smoking prevalence among male government employees at all levels of education was high and patterned by educational attainment. Government initiatives to address tobacco control among employees should consider targeted interventions for different educational levels.
Hubert Department of Global Health , Emory University , Atlanta, Georgia , USA.
Neil
N
Mehta
Global Health Institute, Emory University , Atlanta, Georgia , USA.
Chen
C
Zhang
Global Health Institute, Emory University , Atlanta, Georgia , USA.
Xinwei
X
Hua
School of Public Health, Georgia State University , Atlanta, Georgia , USA.
Pamela
P
Redmon
School of Public Health, Georgia State University , Atlanta, Georgia , USA.
Michael
M
Eriksen
Global Health Institute, Emory University , Atlanta, Georgia , USA.
Jeffrey
J
Koplan
Hubert Department of Global Health , Emory University , Atlanta, Georgia , USA.
Mohammed
M
Ali
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE