PREDICTORS OF MANUFACTURED CIGARETTE SMOKING BEHAVIOR AMONG RESIDENTS IN PANGWAN SUBDISTRICT, PHATO DISTRICT, CHUMPHON PROVINCE

Abstract

Although overall smoking rates in Thailand have declined, Southern Thailand particularly Chumphon Province maintains high smoking rates, with a lack of studies on predictive factors within rural community contexts. This predictive cross-sectional survey aimed to evaluate levels of knowledge, attitudes, social influence, and manufactured cigarette smoking behavior, and to analyze predictor variables among residents in Pangwan Subdistrict, Phato District, Chumphon Province. The sample comprised 357 residents aged 15 and above, selected through stratified and simple random sampling. Data were collected between September 2024 and March 2025 using questionnaires with reliabilities ranging from 0.636 to 0.809. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis. Most participants were male (91.60%), aged 31–45 years (42.60%), and agricultural workers (29.10%). Participants demonstrated good knowledge of smoking harms (Mean = 9.15, SD = 2.83), good attitudes (Mean = 2.46, SD = 0.73), high social influence (Mean = 2.18, SD = 0.38), and high smoking behavior (Mean = 2.20, SD = 0.33). Multiple regression analysis revealed that social influence (beta = 0.172, p = 0.002) and knowledge of smoking harms (beta = 0.129, p = 0.022) significantly predicted manufactured cigarette smoking behavior (p < 0.05), accounting for 4.3% of the variance (R² = 0.043, Adjusted R² = 0.038). In conclusion, social influence and knowledge significantly predict manufactured cigarette smoking behavior in rural communities, suggesting that public health interventions should modify social environments alongside promoting health knowledge for sustainable behavior change.