Tobacco Use Insights

Using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected from 2008 to 2010, smoking prevalence for Korean adults (n = 11,681) by gender and age group and the association between smoking and sociodemographic factors were evaluated.

Smoking prevalence was 42.3% for men and 5.6% for women. Young adult (YA) males, ie, 19 to 24 and 25 to 34 years old, were 2.45 (95% CI: 1.60, 3.73) and 5.05 (95% CI: 3.83, 6.66) times more likely to smoke compared to male adults aged 65 and above (31.6%) after controlling for sociodemographic factors. The association between smoking and marital status was different by gender.

In South Korea, the high smoking prevalence among young adults is a troubling pattern. The high smoking prevalence among widowed or divorced women is also concern.