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1. Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats that the world has ever faced [1]. In response to this public health threat, different tobacco control strategies have been formulated. Although increasing the tax on tobacco is generally thought to be the most effective tobacco control measure, smoking-cessation programs are also a cost-effective way of helping people to quit smoking. These interventions are considered to be effective at reducing smoking-related mortality and morbidity, in comparison to passive health education. For example, pharmacotherapy and counseling have been proven to be effective at increasing quit rates [2,3,4,5,6]. Of the counseling approaches, nursing interventions for smoking cessation have been shown to be effective [2,7]. Nurses are the largest group of health providers and have many opportunities to work with people with health needs [8]. As most nurses are non-smokers, they are in a very good position to provide interventions to smokers [8,9]. However, studies have shown that the participation of nurses in tobacco control activities has been far from satisfactory [10,11].
Sufficient knowledge and active participation in tobacco control efforts can improve the effectiveness of such efforts and also enhance the quality of the nursing intervention that is being provided. Understanding the factors that affect the participation of nurses in smoking-cessation interventions may be of use in improving the nursing curriculum and in developing programs to educate both nurses and the public about the importance of controlling the use of tobacco. Although there is a similar study on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of nurses in China with regard to tobacco control [10], such a study has yet to be conducted in Hong Kong. China has ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the WHO, the application of which has been extended to Hong Kong since 2006. Moreover, Hong Kong is considered a gateway to tobacco control efforts in mainland China. For example, nearly one third of the population in mainland China are smokers, with 52.9% of men and 2.4% of women considered active smokers [12]. Mainland Chinese consume nearly 40% the cigarettes produced in the world-more than those in the other top four tobacco-consuming countries put together [13]. In comparison, in Hong...