Abstract: Objective · To investigate the prevalence of smoking and awareness of smoking hazards in a community-based elderly population in Changning District, Shanghai.  Methods · A total of 1 809 subjects were randomly selected from 18 communities based on the chronic non-communicable diseases cohort in an elderly population aged 65 and over in Changning District, Shanghai. Information on smoking status, health condition and awareness of smoking hazards were obtained through face to face interviews. Chi-square tests and non-conditional Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the risk factors of the awareness of smoking hazards and current smoking status.  Results · The overall prevalence of current smoking was 15.6% among the investigated elderly population. Smoking prevalence was significantly higher in men than that in women (30.0% vs 2.1%, P=0.000). Also, it was higher in the men aged 65-69 than that in those aged 70 and over (34.3% vs 20.4%, P=0.000). The participants with middle school education had the highest prevalence (19.1%) in the population. Overall, the proportion of participants who knew “smoking causes heart disease” “smoking causes stroke” and “smoking causes cancer” was 45.1%, 43.3% and 64.4%, respectively. Among the participants, 36.4% knew all the three smoking hazards. With the confounders such as age and gender being adjusted, current smoking behavior was associated with the participants’ awareness of smoking hazards (OR=0.74, P=0.000).  Conclusion · Currently, the awareness of smoking hazards is generally low in Shanghai elderly population, especially in those with lower education level and current smoking behavior. More targeted educational interventions are necessary in specific population.

Key words: elderly population, smoking hazards, awareness