Table 1

Sociodemographic characteristics and betel quid chewing behaviors (N = 7144)


Betel quid chewers (N = 3291)
Never chewers (N = 3853)
ORb (95% CI)
aORc (95% CI)





N
(%)a
N
(%)a



Gender*






     Male
2033
(53.2)
1791
(46.8)
1.86 (1.69–2.05) †
1.14 (1.01–1.30) †
     Female
1258
(37.9)
2062
(62.1)
1.00
1.0
Age (years)*






     >=45
1582
(48.0)
1716
(52.0)
1.15 (1.05–1.27) †
0.84(0.72–0.97) †
     <45
1709
(44.4)
2137
(55.6)
1.00
1.0
Obesity*






     Yes
800
(55.8)
633
(44.2)
1.63 (1.45–1.84) †
1.61 (1.40–1.85) †
     No
2491
(43.6)
3220
(56.4)
1.00
1.0
Education (years)*






     <=6
1709
(52.8)
1531
(47.3)
1.64 (1.49–1.80) †
2.02 (1.75–2.34) †
     >6
1582
(40.5)
2322
(59.5)
1.00
1.0
Marital status*






     Married
2661
(49.1)
2762
(50.9)
1.69 (1.51–1.89) †
1.51 (1.30–1.75) †
     Single
602
(36.3)
1057
(63.7)
1.00
1.0
Ethnicity*






     Taiwan aborigines
3018
(49.7)
3059
(50.3)
5.30 (4.28–6.56) †
3.83 (3.01–4.89) †
     Mixed-Taiwan aborigines
128
(43.1)
169
(56.9)
4.07 (2.98–5.54) †
3.01 (2.09–4.34) †
     Non-Taiwan aborigines
106
(15.7)
569
(84.3)
1.00
1.0
Alcohol consumption*






     Yes
2480
(66.9)
1225
(33.1)
7.05 (6.33–7.84) †
4.50 (4.00–5.07) †
     No
731
(22.3)
2545
(77.7)
1.00
1.0
Cigarette smoking*






     Yes
1821
(66.8)
906
(33.2)
4.28 (3.86–4.74) †
3.03 (2.66–3.45) †
     No
1363
(32.0)
2899
(68.0)
1.00
1.0

* Significant difference in prevalence of betel quid chewing by Chi-square analysis (p < 0.05).

† Significant difference by logistic regression model (p < 0.05).

a May not total 100% due to rounding.

b Odds ratios (OR) refer to risk of betel quid chewers (including former chewers and current chewers) versus never chewers according to each variable. OR > 1 indicates a higher likelihood of being a betel quid chewer.

c aOR: adjusted odds ratio for sex, age (years), obesity, education (years), marital status, ethnicity, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking by logistic regression model; 95% CI: 95% confidence interval.

Lin et al. BMC Public Health 2006 6:271   doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-271