Table 1

Background characteristics of the current smokers in Taiwan, 2000–2003

2000
 2001
 2002
 2003

Characteristics
 No.
 %
 No.
 %
 No.
 %
 No.
 %
Total
 856
632
521
493
Gender







     Male
 789
 92.2
 599
 94.8
 496
 95.0
 460
 93.3
     Female
 67
 7.8
 33
 5.2
 25
 5.0
 33
 6.7
Age







     17–24
 46
 5.4
 35
 5.5
 41
 7.9
 63
 12.8
     25–34
 179
 20.9
 133
 21.0
 94
 18.0
 101
 20.5
     35–44
 299
 34.9
 222
 35.1
 190
 36.5
 177
 35.9
     45–54
 199
 23.2
 149
 23.6
 122
 23.4
 99
 20.1
     55-
 133
 15.5
 93
 14.7
 74
 14.2
 53
 10.8
Education







     College and above
 168
 19.6
 128
 20.3
 107
 20.5
 134
 27.2
     Senior high school
 317
 37.0
 245
 38.8
 195
 37.4
 196
 39.8
     Junior high school
 216
 25.2
 153
 24.2
 136
 26.1
 98
 19.9
     Primary school or lower
 155
 18.1
 106
 16.8
 83
 15.9
 65
 13.2
Month income







          No income
 98
 11.4
 93
 14.7
 63
 12.1
 75
 15.2
          <NT $20,000
 146
 17.1
 94
 14.9
 94
 18.0
 84
 17.0
     NT $ 20,000–39,999
 335
 39.1
 237
 37.5
 192
 36.9
 174
 35.3
     NT $ 40,000–59,999
 181
 21.1
 144
 22.8
 117
 22.5
 105
 21.3
     ≥ NT $ 60,000
 96
 11.2
 64
 10.1
 55
 10.6
 55
 11.2
Smoking degree







          Light smokers
 445
 50.0
 319
 50.5
 281
 53.9
 296
 60.0
     Medium smokers
 310
 36.2
 250
 39.6
 200
 38.4
 165
 33.5
     Heavy smokers
 101
 11.8
 63
 10.0
 40
 7.7
 32
 6.5

Lee et al. BMC Public Health 2004 4:61   doi:10.1186/1471-2458-4-61