An Analysis of Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Cigarette Smoking: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Residents in Lahore, Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59525/symbiohealth.1099Keywords:
KAP, Cigarette Smoking, Perception, Lahore, PakistanAbstract
Tobacco smoking remains a formidable public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries like Pakistan. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding cigarette smoking among 800 residents of Lahore, selected via a multi-stage sampling technique. The findings reveal a smoking prevalence of 23%, with initiation primarily occurring in late adolescence (mean age 19.2 years) and driven predominantly by peer pressure (75%) and stress relief (56.3%). While knowledge of major health risks like lung cancer was high (94%), a significant gap existed between this knowledge and personal risk perception, alongside the powerful influence of socio-cultural norms, including the high social acceptability of male smoking (75.5%) and the perceived efficacy of smoking for stress relief (81.8%). The study concludes that despite adequate awareness, smoking behavior in Lahore is sustained by deep-rooted social and cultural factors, underscoring the urgent need for public health interventions that extend beyond informational campaigns to address these normative and psychological drivers.
References
Ahmad, K., Jafary, F., Jehan, I., Hatcher, J., Khan, A. Q., Chaturvedi, N., & Jafar, T. H. (2005). Prevalence and predictors of smoking in Pakistan: results of the National Health Survey of Pakistan. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 12(3), 203-208.
Ahmed, S. I., Jackson, S. J., & Rifat, M. R. (2015, May). Learning to fix: knowledge, collaboration and mobile phone repair in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (pp. 1-10).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC. (2011). Quitting smoking among adults---United States, 2001--2010. MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 60(44).
Dahal, S., Subedi, R. K., Maharjan, S., & Maharjan, J. (2014). Smoking behavior of adolescents and their view towards government's ban on smoking in public places in Kathmandu. Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences, 3(2), 94-100.
Delucchi, K. L., Tajima, B., & Guydish, J. (2009). Development of the smoking knowledge, attitudes, and practices (S-KAP) instrument. Journal of drug issues, 39(2), 347-363.
de Rada, V. D. (2021). Is the Kish household sampling method better than the birthday method?. Italian Sociological Review, 11(2), 485-485.
Guo, H., & Quan, G. (2020). Tobacco control in China and the road to Healthy China 2030. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 24(3), 271-277.
Islam, M. M., Akanda, A. E. A., Hasan, M. N., Roy, P. B., Any, F. I., Khatun, M., ... & Zhang, X. (2020). Knowledge sharing through mobile phone to develop a knowledge base: A study on rural women of Bangladesh. Library Philosophy and Practice (E-Journal), 1-21.
Iqbal, S., Barolia, R., Petrucka, P., Ladak, L., Rehmani, R., & Kabir, A. (2022). Smoking cessation interventions in South Asian Region: a systematic scoping review. BMC public health, 22(1), 1096.
Khoso, A. R., Jintu, G., Chen, Q., Sheikh, M. J., Suyuhan, W., & Bhutto, S. (2025). Ecological and health impacts of tobacco farming in Pakistan: A mixed-methods approach toward a sustainable pathway for agricultural transition. Tobacco Induced Diseases, 23, 10-18332.
Khoso, A. R., Suyuhan, W., Jintu, G., Bhutto, S., & Vighio, K. (2025). A Sociological Perspective on Tobacco Use, Smoking Behavior and Health Outcomes in Sindh Pakistan. Social Science Research, 4(1).
Khoso, A. R., Suyuhan, W., & Solangi, T. (2025). Assessing the Impacts of Climate-Induced Natural Disasters on Tobacco Cultivation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. International Journal of Sustainable Applied Sciences, 3(8), 503-516.
Khoso, A. R., Jintu, G. U., Bhutto, S., Li, L., & Ujuagu, F. L. (2024). China's tobacco smoking epidemic: prevalence, illness load, obstacles, and future plans. Pakistan Journal of Chest Medicine, 30(3), 326-332.
Naseeb, U., Alam, M. T., Pervez, F., Mustafa, M. S., Azam, U., Laila, S., & Shafique, M. A. (2024). Knowledge, attitude, and perception of passive smoking among medical and dental students of Karachi: a survey-based study. Tobacco Use Insights, 17, 1179173X241258347.
Nizami, S., Sobani, Z. A., Raza, E., Baloch, N. U. A., & Khan, J. (2011). Causes of smoking in Pakistan: an analysis of social factors. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 61(2), 198.
Shankar, A., Parascandola, M., Sakthivel, P., Kaur, J., Saini, D., & Jayaraj, N. P. (2022). Advancing tobacco cessation in LMICs. Current Oncology, 29(12), 9117-9124.
World Health Organization. (2018). WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco smoking 2000–2025.
Zaheer, I., Fatima, F., Khoso, G. H., & Veesar, A. (2025). The Socio-Economic Dynamics of Tobacco Cultivation on Rural Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mardan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Social Science Review Archives, 3(4), 349-356.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ifra Zaheer, Huma Shahzad, Faseeha Fatima, Farhad Ali, Attaullah Veesar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
