Objective: To investigate household smoking situations and factors associated with cessation, focusing on adult male smokers in low socioeconomic coastal fishing communities in southern Thailand.

Materials and Methods: An epidemiological community cross-sectional approach was conducted in 371 adult male smokers aged between 20 and 60 years. A self-administered questionnaire was applied to gather the data. Demographic characteristics, household smoking, smoking history, smoking behaviors, and pulmonary symptom data were collected by the community research assistants. Statistical computing was performed with R studio, and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The household smoking prevalence was 23.5%. Most smokers were categorized as having high pack-years, and the lowest age at first smoking was ten years old. Imitation and impetuous behaviors were the major leading causes of becoming a new smoker. The number of cigarettes smoked daily was the highest among individuals with more than 20 pack-years. Eighty-four-point-one percent of smokers desired to quit smoking for personal health reasons. Smokers in the 51 to 60 years age group were 49.62 times as likely as adolescents to cease smoking. Participants who first started smoking when they were older than 17 years of age had a 3.56-times higher chance of quitting smoking than those who started smoking when they were younger than 15 years of age (95% CI 1.51 to 8.37).

Conclusion: The smoking situation in the coastal fishing communities of the southernmost provinces of Thailand is a worrisome problem. Smoking prevalence remains high, with prevalence increasing with age, and newer smokers starting at younger ages. A high proportion of smokers intended to cease smoking. Therefore, smoking cessation programs would be essential in the present study area.

Keywords: Smoking situation, Cessation, Coastal fishing community, Southernmost Thailand

DOI: doi.org/10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.01.11415

Received 15 June 2020 | Revised 20 July 2020 | Accepted 3 August 2020