Attitude to Smoking, Beliefs about Smoking, and Nicotine Dependence in Women Smokers

일 지역 여성 흡연자의 흡연태도, 흡연 신념과 니코틴 의존도

Purpose: This study was done to identify attitudes to smoking, beliefs about smoking and factors influencing nicotine dependence in woman smokers. Methods: Data was collected from 131 women smokers, who visited a public health center between January and July. 2012. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 program. Results: Mean score for attitude to smoking was $23.7{\pm}3.2$, beliefs about smoking, $18.6{\pm}2.9$, and nicotine dependence, $4.3{\pm}2.1$. Attitude to smoking of the woman smokers was significantly different according to marital status, beliefs about smoking were significantly different according to marital status and being employed. Nicotine dependence was significantly different according to frequency of alcohol consumption, stress, number of cigarettes smoked. There was a correlation between attitude to smoking and beliefs about smoking. Age when starting to smoke, number of cigarettes, and length of time one has smoked accounted for 31.0% of nicotine dependence. Conclusion: The results indicate that increasing knowledge and improving attitudes toward smoking as well as training on stress management and exercise are needed. Also, a distinct mediation should be developed for women smokers. Especially, in-depth research is needed to identify psycho-social behavior-related variables for the health promotion of young women smokers.