The Health Agenda, Volume 3. Issue 2. April, 2015
ORIGINAL ARTICLE A cross-sectional study on prevalence and determinants of tobacco use among young and adult males (18-60 years) in a peri-urban area of Agartala, Tripura Authors: Rituparna Das, Kaushik Tripura, Shib Sekhar Datta, Partha Bhattacharjee, Madhusudan Majumder, M. Kunjabihari Singh Corresponding author: Dr. Rituparna Das Asst. Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine Tripura Medical College and Dr. BRAM Teaching Hospital Hapania, Agartala, Tripura 799014 Mail ID:
[email protected] ABSTRACT Background: Tobacco is used in various forms by Indian males and its health effects are seen irrespective of the way it is used. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of tobacco use among urban males; to study the determinants of tobacco use, and to assess knowledge of the study participants regarding harmful effects of tobacco use. Methodology: The present cross-sectional study was conducted during February 2015 among 170 urban males in Hapania, Agartala. Results: The study showed that prevalence of tobacco use among urban males was 61.76%. Bidi and cigarettes were the most common form of smoked tobacco and zarda was the most common form of smokeless tobacco used. Majority of the respondents cited that they started tobacco use ‘as a group habit with friends’ (41.8%); whereas, the most common reason cited for maintenance of tobacco use was ‘for a sense of wellbeing’ (22.4%). Educational status was found to be a significant determinant of tobacco use in multiple logistic regression analysis. The study also showed that majority of the respondents had the knowledge of harmful effects of tobacco use and 77.1% respondents knew that tobacco consumption causes cancer. Conclusion: The study showed a high prevalence of tobacco use by urban males which necessitates active intervention by formulating cessation and prevention programs. Key Words: Tobacco, Tripura, Urban male INTRODUCTION Tobacco is consumed in various forms worldwide, due to availability of wide array of both smoked and smokeless tobacco products. Tobacco use has serious health outcomes like carcinoma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular accidents, etc. and is estimated to have killed 100 million people in 20th century and 8.3 million people are expected to get killed every year by 2030, 80% of which will occur in low-tomiddle income countries. (1) The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) (2) conducted during 2009-2010 indicated that 47.9% males and 20.7% females are using tobacco in various forms in India. According to NFHS-3 survey (2005-2006) (3), tobacco use is more prevalent among men, rural population, illiterate, poor and vulnerable sections of the society. The same report published that 69.2% The Health Agenda, Online ISSN No: 2320-3749
of urban men are using tobacco in smoked or smokeless form in the north-eastern state Tripura. (4) However, information on tobacco use and the factors associated with initiating and maintaining such behaviour among the urban males of Tripura is very limited. Hence, the present study was conducted with the objectives to assess the prevalence of tobacco use and to study the determinants of tobacco use among urban males of a peri-urban area in Agartala. The present study also tried to assess the knowledge of the study participants regarding the harmful effects of tobacco use. METHODOLOGY This was a community based cross-sectional study conducted in Hapania, a peri-urban area of Agartala, Tripura during the month of February, 2015 among young and adult males of 18-60 years age. Page | 35
Das R, Tripura K, Datta SS, et al. : Determinants of tobacco use among young and adult males in Agartala
Considering the prevalence of tobacco use as 69.2% (P) (4) among urban males, with a relative precision (E) of 10% of prevalence, and the level of significance (or type 1 error) as 5%, the minimum required sample size for assessing the prevalence of tobacco use among urban males was calculated to be 170 using the formulae,
Table 1: Socio-demographic profile of the study respondents [N=170] Characteristics Age group (in years)
Z 21 / 2 pq E2
The study included 18–60 year males who had given consent for participating in the study irrespective of their marital status and excluded very sick and mentally unsound persons. A simple random sampling procedure was adopted to select 170 families from the municipality house list of the area. Then from every house one male was randomly selected who matched the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the study. If on the day of interview the selected house had no available male member then the next house was taken. Data was collected by interviewing the randomly selected participants in their home, using a structured, semi-open ended, interview schedule after taking written informed consent from them and information was collected on their socio-demographic status, tobacco use, reasons for their initiation and/or addiction to tobacco and on their knowledge and perception about ill effects of tobacco use. Former consumers of tobacco were taken as those who had stopped tobacco consumption and current users of tobacco were considered as those who were currently using any form of tobacco or had used it within last 15 days of interview. Data analysis was done in Epi. Info version 7.0 computer software and data were expressed in frequency, percentage and statistical analysis has been done using multiple logistic regression analysis.
Religion Caste
Education
Occupation
Per capita Income (Rs)
Marital Status Type of family
18-24 25-31 32-38 39-45 46-52 53-60 Hindu Muslim General SC ST OBC Illiterate Primary Secondary H/S Graduation and above Student Unskilled labour Skilled labour Bussiness Service Unemployed
