Fifty-nine per cent of males were current or ex-smokers as against 36.9% of females (p = 0.01).
One-third of KTHS males were current smokers at the time of the study, and 70.0% were non-smokers, compared to 37.8% (smokers) and 62.2% (non-smokers) in the Microcensus sample.
Proportions were also tabulated of case-patients who were male, were current smokers at the time of interview, were infected with HIV, had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma, had taken systemic corticosteroids, or had a history of invasive cancer.
The fact that a minority of physicians indicated that they felt well prepared to assist a patient with a smoking problem, in conjunction with the fact that a majority of male physicians are current smokers and that the smoking prevalence of female physicians is over seven times that of the national prevalence, indicates a need for more developed medical system intervention.
Recent reports indicate that in Sri Lanka, 41% of males and 3.4% of females are current smokers and 23% of men and 0.9% of women take alcohol at least monthly [ 39].
In Mae Sot, 12% and 4.9% of females and males who never smoked had U-Cd concentrations of ≥ 5 µg/g creatinine, compared with 26.5% and 10.4% of females and males who were current or former smokers.
Of the students in grades 10 to 12, about 51% were male, 14% were current smokers (17% males and 11% females) and 37% were involved in heavy drinking in the past year.
While 98% of male cases and 75% of male controls were current or former smokers, 75% of female cases and 43% of female controls had ever smoked.
The study group was 79% male, 72% were current or former smokers, and 19% had diabetes.
Nearly half (46.5%) of male employees were current smokers as opposed to 11.5% of women (p < 0.001).
