Association of smoking with other lifestyle factors and mental health status of Japanese factory workers.

A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among factory workers in Japan. The questionnaire included items concerning eight health practices recommended by Morimoto and the General Health Questionnaire-28. Data from 1598 male workers were analyzed. There were few differences in comprehensive health status due to smoking status, but smokers under the age of 30 years had worse lifestyle habits than nonsmokers with regard to favorable drinking and eating breakfast, and smokers between the ages 30 and 44 years had worse lifestyle habits with regard to favorable drinking and eating breakfast, and better habits regarding sleeping hours and working hours. Smokers under 30 showed worse mental health status than ex-smokers with regard to social dysfunction, though there was little difference between those aged from 30 to 44 and those 45 and older. The results suggested the importance of considering the difference in lifestyle and mental health status due to smoking status when providing advice for improving health habits.