Demographics, lifestyle, and quitting related factors among quitters and non-quitters (n = 654)
| Characteristics | Non-quitter (n = 576) | Quitter (n = 78) | p Value for χ2 tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| n (Row %) | n (Row %) | ||
| A maximum of 5% data were missing for some items; US$1 = HK$7.8. | |||
| †The nicotine dependence level was measured by the Fagerstrom scale, which is divided into 3 levels: low (score 0–3), moderate (score 4–5), and severe (score = 6–10). | |||
| ‡This information was collected at the 6 month follow up interview. | |||
| NRT, nicotine replacement therapy. | |||
| Demographics | |||
| Sex | |||
| Male | 432 (87) | 65 (13) | |
| Female | 142 (92) | 13 (8) | 0.12 |
| Marital status | |||
| Single | 233 (91) | 24 (9) | |
| Married/cohabiting | 308 (86) | 51 (14) | |
| Widowed/separated/divorced | 26 (90) | 3 (10) | 0.18 |
| Occupational status | |||
| Housewife | 31 (89) | 4 (11) | |
| Full time student/retired/unemployed | 130 (83) | 26 (17) | |
| Currently employed | 400 (89) | 48 (11) | 0.15 |
| Age (years) | |||
| 30 or below | 215 (90) | 25 (10) | |
| 31–40 | 161 (93) | 12 (7) | |
| 41–50 | 115 (86) | 19 (14) | |
| 51 or above | 71 (77) | 21 (23) | <0.01 |
| Educational attainment | |||
| Primary school (grade 6) or below | 79 (87) | 12 (13) | |
| Secondary school (grade 7–11) | 375 (88) | 53 (12) | |
| Matriculation (grade 12) or above | 109 (89) | 13 (11) | 0.83 |
| Monthly personal income | |||
| HK$0–9999 | 275 (88) | 39 (12) | |
| HK$10000 or more | 281 (88) | 38 (12) | 0.85 |
| Monthly household income | |||
| HK$0–19999 | 351 (88) | 47 (12) | |
| HK$20000 or more | 193 (87) | 28 (13) | 0.75 |
| Tobacco use related | |||
| Daily cigarette consumption | |||
| ⩽10 | 137 (82) | 31 (18) | |
| ⩾11 | 432 (90) | 47 (10) | <0.01 |
| Nicotine dependency level† | |||
| Low | 169 (86) | 27 (14) | |
| Moderate | 151 (88) | 20 (12) | |
| Severe | 243 (89) | 31 (11) | 0.71 |
| Number of smokers in the household | |||
| Nil | 369 (89) | 47 (11) | |
| 1 or more | 203 (87) | 31 (13) | 0.46 |
| Age started smoking the first cigarette | |||
| 14 or below | 159 (94) | 10 (6) | |
| 15 or above | 411 (86) | 68 (14) | <0.01 |
| Age started smoking cigarette regularly | |||
| 14 or below | 122 (94) | 8 (6) | |
| 15 or above | 448 (87) | 70 (13) | <0.05 |
| Quitting history | |||
| Number of previous quitting attempt(s) | |||
| None | 130 (96) | 5 (4) | |
| One or more | 440 (86) | 73 (14) | <0.01 |
| Length of abstinence in the last attempt to quit | |||
| Less than a day or not at all | 49 (89) | 6 (11) | |
| ⩾1 day | 390 (85) | 67 (15) | 0.45 |
| Perception of smoking | |||
| Perceive smoking as harmful to health | |||
| Yes | 560 (88) | 75 (12) | |
| No | 11 (79) | 3 (21) | 0.27 |
| Perceive second hand smoking as harmful to health | |||
| Yes | 530 (89) | 68 (11) | |
| No | 41 (80) | 10 (20) | 0.08 |
| Quitting smoking related† | |||
| Adherence to stage matched counselling recommendations | |||
| Yes | 171 (77) | 52 (23) | |
| No | 405 (94) | 26 (6) | <0.001 |
| Joined other smoking cessation programmes | |||
| Yes | 24 (65) | 13 (35) | |
| No | 552 (90) | 65 (10) | <0.001 |
| Used NRT at the present quitting attempt | |||
| Yes | 25 (58) | 18 (42) | |
| No | 551 (90) | 60 (10) | <0.001 |