Objective To explore the relationship between adult tobacco use and health literacy, and to provide evidence for tobacco control intervention and health promotion.

Methods By combining PPS method and KISH table method, the 2018 National Residents′ Health Literacy Monitoring Questionnaire was used to investigate the health literacy level and tobacco use, and the correlation between current smoking behavior and health literacy among residents aged 15-69 was analyzed by logistic regression.

Results A total of 3 200 people were surveyed, and 3 185 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an effective rate of 99.53%.The current smoking rate of people with scientific health literacy, infectious disease prevention literacy, safety and first aid literacy, basic medical literacy and health information literacy was lower than those without (P < 0.05).The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the current smoking rate of males was higher than that of females (OR=25.900, 95%CI:17.018-39.416).The current smoking rates in groups aged 25-69 were higher than those in groups aged 15-24 (OR=4.956-9.178, 95%CI:1.179-37.940).The current smoking rates of workers, employees of other enterprises and other professionals were higher than those of employees of government institutions (OR=1.488-1.913, 95%CI:1.082-3.055).People without basic medical literacy had a higher smoking rate than those with basic medical and health literacy (OR=1.366, 95%CI:1.057-1.765).

Conclusion From now on, we should carry out health literacy promotion and tobacco control propaganda for key groups, improve the level of basic medical and health literacy and reduce the smoking rate.