Smoking attitudes, self-reported practices, and COPD knowledge among adults aged 20-59 years: Insights from a Japanese sample.

Abstract

Introduction: Smoking remains a significant public health issue globally, despite efforts to reduce tobacco use. In Japan, smoking persists, particularly among certain groups.

Methods: This study investigates smoking attitudes, self-reported practices, and COPD knowledge among Japanese adults aged 20-59 years to identify intervention targets for reducing smoking prevalence and improving public health. Data from the 2020 'Community Empowerment and Well-Being and Healthy Long-term Care: Evidence from a Cohort Study (CEC)' project were analyzed, including 537 participants categorized as smokers, former smokers, or non-smokers.

Results: This study shows that gender (male) is a strong predictor of current smoking across all age groups. Individuals with higher smoking awareness are less likely to smoke, especially in older adults. While COPD awareness is significantly associated with smoking only in the 20-29 age group. Among smokers who attempted to quit, 27.7% expressed willingness to quit, but only 3.0% were interested in cessation programs.

Conclusions: A proportion of participants had a smoking history, highlighting tobacco use prevalence. Despite widespread support for anti-smoking measures, a disconnection between attitudes and behaviors persists. While most participants had heard of COPD, deeper knowledge of the disease and its symptoms was limited. These findings emphasize the need for anti-smoking policies targeting educational interventions and improving COPD awareness to promote behavior change and reduce smoking prevalence.