How big is support for smoking prohibition in public places in Kyrgyzstan among mining employees?

SummaryBackgroundIn Kyrgyz Republic, some, but not all, workplaces and public places have been designated smoke-free, but the extent of support for this is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine how big if any this support is.MethodsA cross-sectional sample of employees at the biggest mining company in Kyrgyzstan was interviewed during their annual medical examination. A self-administered questionnaire on attitudes towards a full smoking ban at the workplace along with questions on knowledge and attitudes regarding the current legislation was used on 1881 employees, who lived mostly in Bishek and the Issyk-Kul area. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictive role of smoking, sex, and place of residence.ResultsParticipants were mostly men (87.1%), aged 38.6 ± 9.4 years. In general, the employees supported a stricter tobacco control policy in their company (59.2%), and 58.2% supported a full smoking ban at workplaces and 61.5% in dwelling rooms at the mining site. The current tobacco control Law was familiar to 63% of employees (49% women). Of 668 participants, 85% indicated full support for the smoking ban in public places, and 77% supported full prohibition of smoking in places where smoking was currently partially banned. Smokers were less likely to support a full smoking ban in places with a current partial ban (OR 0.52; 0.35–0.75).ConclusionsThe level of awareness of the tobacco control legislation was very low among Kyrgyzstan mining employees. They supported the full smoking ban in places where smoking was already prohibited and a full smoking ban in places where smoking was currently only restricted.