The Association of Smoking Exposure at Home with Attempts to Quit Smoking and Cessation Success: A Survey of South Korean Adolescents Who Smoke

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the association of smoking exposure at home with attempts to quit smoking and the success or failure of such attempts among South Korean adolescents. We utilized the data of 28,652 South Korean adolescents who smoked from the 2015–2017 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, including demographic variables (age, sex, and family structure), socioeconomic variables (allowance per week, household income level, and grade), and health-related characteristics (alcohol consumption, intensity of physical activity, stress level, self-reported health status, attendance in smoking cessation programs, and smoking onset). A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that attempting to quit smoking was less likely among those exposed to smoking at home every day compared to those without such exposure (boys exposed to smoking every day: OR = 0.52, CI = 0.45–0.60; girls exposed to smoking every day: OR = 0.48, CI = 0.38–0.61); cessation success showed similar results (boys exposed to smoking every day: OR = 0.51, CI = 0.46–0.58; girls exposed to smoking every day: OR = 0.56, CI = 0.47–0.66). These findings highlight the impacts of smoking exposure at home and the importance of considering this exposure when supporting adolescents to quit.