Smoking Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Women in Beijing, China

Background: China has the largest population of cigarette smokers worldwide; surveys suggest rising prevalence among young women. Migratory lifestyles may confer increased susceptibility. Objectives: we aimed to understand how migration relates to smoking among young women. Methods: we implemented a cross-sectional behavioral survey of rural-to-urban Chinese women (n = 206) working in restaurants and commercial sex venues, assessing smoking attitudes, behaviors, and health-risk knowledge. Results: rates of ever smoking and current smoking among restaurant workers were high compared with the rates in general population surveys (16.1% and 6.5%, respectively); rates were much higher among sex workers (54.9% and 33.3%, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed education to be protective, whereas exposure to female-branded cigarettes was a risk for ever smoking. Conclusions: Chinese migrant women appear to be smoking at higher rates than nonmigrant women. Priorities for future research include representative studies in multiple cities examining reasons for uptake and stimuli to quit.