Prevalence and Socio-demographic Determinants of Tobacco Use in Rohtak City, Haryana, India

• Main Authors: Sneh Kumari, RB Jain, Bharti Chawla, Sumit Chawla, Seema Sharma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2020-06-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: anganwadi centres; non-communicable diseases; sociocultural; urban
• Online Access: https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/13787/44165_F(KM)_PF1(AG_KM)_PFA(KM)_PB(AG_KM)_GC(SHU)_PN(SL).pdf

ABSTRACT Introduction: Tobacco use is a modifiable risk factor of non-communicable diseases. It is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide directly or indirectly. There is a need to study the various factors associated with tobacco use. Aim: Present study was carried out to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic determinants of tobacco use in urban area (Rohtak city) of Haryana, India. Materials and Methods: The present study was a community based observational study with cross-sectional design. It was conducted among 15-64 years aged individuals in Rohtak city of Haryana, India, from September 2013 to October 2014. For the purpose of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, Rohtak city was divided into eight different circles. Multistage random sampling was carried out including all the anganwadi centres located in these eight different circles. From each circle, two anganwadi centres were selected randomly. From each anganwadi, 90 individuals of 15-64 years age group (subdivided into five sub age groups) were selected by taking 18 individuals (9 males and 9 females) of each age bracket by systematic random sampling. Thus, a sample size of 1440 was included in the study. Results: The overall prevalence of current tobacco use was found to be 23.6% (tobacco-smoking: 22.8%; tobacco-smokeless: 3%) and it was found to be higher among males as 46.3% (tobacco-smoking: 44.6%; tobacco-smokeless: 6%) than 1% in females (tobacco-smoking: 1%; tobacco-smokeless: 0%). The overall prevalence of current smoking was highest among married (25.4%) followed by unmarried (15.5%) and widowed (9.5%). While observing the association with educational status, it was seen higher in graduates and above (13.7%) as compared to illiterates (8.3%). It was highest in those who had business as occupation (59.5%) and lowest in those who had no occupation (4.3%). The prevalence of current smoking was highest among lower socio-economic status (32.1%) followed by lower-middle (24.4%), upper-lower (23.6%), upper-middle (22.0%), and upper socio-economic status (0.0%). Conclusion: Present study highlighted that males are indulged in tobacco use at an early age and more frequent as compared to females. As tobacco use is an important risk factor for non-communicable diseases, so more strict rules and regulations should be implemented for prevention of development of such unhealthy habits in the people of the country.