Association of health literacy with smoking behavior among Chinese men

Abstract Health literacy may constitute a modifiable determinant of smoking behavior and intention to quit. Little is known about the extent to which health literacy affects smoking or quitting smoking. We assessed the nationally representative cross-sectional datasets from the China Health Literacy Surveillance (CHLS) initiated in 2018. Using polytomous logistic regression models, the study investigated the association of health literacy with smoking behavior and the intention to quit smoking among men aged 15–69 in China. After confounding factors were controlled, compared with having below basic health literacy, having adequate health literacy appeared to be an independent protective factor from current smoking [current smoking vs never smoking: adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.81–0.96; p = 0.003; current smoking vs former smoking: adjusted OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.64–0.92; p = 0.003], while having intermediate health literacy was associated with current smoking vs never smoking (adjusted OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.02–1.17; p = 0.011) or former smoking vs never smoking (adjusted OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.06–1.40; p = 0.005). And having adequate health literacy was associated with intending to quit among current smokers (adjusted OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.10–1.42; p < 0.001). Findings provide evidence that health literacy may serve as a critical and independent protective factor for reducing poor smoking behavior or enhancing cessation intention among men. Efforts should focus on developing and evaluating intervention to control tobacco use among men with low health literacy level.