BACKGROUND: This study reports findings from the ITC Korea Survey, which was conducted to evaluate the characteristics in Korean adult smokers as part of the ITC Project. METHODS: Adult male and female smokers were randomly selected using telephone survey from November to December 2005. The ITC Korea Survey contained a wide range of questions on smoking behavior and smoking history. The data reported are weighted on the basis of age and gender, and they are nationally representative of smokers in Korea. RESULTS: A total of 1,002 smokers among the selected 1,402 subjects (71.5%) were interviewed; 96.2% were males. Daily smokers comprised 94.5% of the sample. The mean of cigarettes per day was 17.9. The average minutes after waking before the first cigarette was smoked was lower (50.6 minutes) than it was in other countries of the ITC Project. Over 90% considered themselves addicted to cigarettes and 86.5% expressed regret over smoking. Smokers reported that the norms against smoking in Korea were very strong both personal norms (89.4%) and perceived norms in Korean society (86.3%). Among the smokers, 80.8% had tried to quit smoking, and 76.1% were planning to quit. Only 5.8% of the Korean smokers indicated that the warning labels made them a lot more likely to quit smoking. When the price of cigarettes increased by 500 won (25%) in December 2004, 34.3% reported trying to quit smoking. Only 17.7% supported a complete workplace ban and 15.8% supported a complete ban in restaurants. Although knowledge of the harms of smoking was high, nearly 80% of the Koreans wrongly believed that "nicotine causes most of the cancer in smokers." Finally, the great majority (85.2%) of smokers in Korea believed that "the government should do more to tackle the harm done by smoking" and 62.5% believed that "tobacco products should be more tightly regulated." CONCLUSION: The results from the baseline wave of the ITC Korea Survey have identified where tobacco control in Korea has been done. Future waves of the ITC Korea Survey will be able to evaluate the impact of important tobacco control policies that Korea will be required to implement over the next few years, as a party to the FCTC.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Restaurants ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Telephone ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Products

Objective To identify the levels of exposure to second-hand smoking (SHS)among Chinese adults living in the urban areas and their knowledge on the risks of SHS,to support for the Smoke-free policy.Methods Data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) and the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation China Survey (ITC China Survey) was analyzed and SAS was used to calculate the rates and 95％ CI.Results In the two surveys,less than 40％ of the respondents reported that their workplaces had completely stopped smoking.Participants who reported that they had seen people smoking at various public places with different rates,also they could reflect the levels to SHS exposure.Restaurants were the venue with the heaviest overall exposure (83.4％-95.6％),followed by the workplace (53.3％-84.0％).Exposure was low in health facilities,schools and public transport venues.In the GATS survey,60.6％ smokers and 68.5％ non-smokers believed that SHS could cause lung cancer,but only one-third of the participants believed that SHS could cause heart diseases in adults.Participants in the ITC China survey reported a comparatively higher level of awareness on the harm of SHS,but only 58.2％ smokers believed that SHS could cause heart diseases in adults.Overall,data from the ITC China survey showed that participants' support for a comprehensive smoke-free policy in schools,health-related facilities,government buildings and in taxi were high (over 70％).However,the proportion of participants supporting comprehensive smoking-free policy at workplaces (50.9％-60.9％) was relatively low.Conclusion The proportion of indoor workplaces with complete smoking ban was low in urban areas but levels to SHS exposure were high.People's awareness of harms related to SHS and their attitude on setting up a comprehensive smoke-free workplace need to be improved.