Sociodemographic determinants of tobacco use among inpatients in a tertiary care hospital.

Abstract

Backgrouond: Tobacco use is the most important contributor to morbidity and premature death among modifiable life style factors. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke and the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030. Materials and methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted. Males and Females 18–65 years of age who were admitted and gave informed consent, were included in the study. Sample size 398 was based on an estimated prevalence of tobacco use of (23% to 47%), confidence interval 95%, and precision15% in Master sample size estimation software 2.0. Males and females between 18–65 years of age, who were admitted as inpatient at least for 24 hours, able to speak and willing to participate in the study. Self-reported daily tobacco use Questionnaire was administered through face to face interview. Analysis: Bivariate analysis was done for each variable under study in relation to daily tobacco use. Unadjusted Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were obtained. Variables of interest such as age, gender, religion, and socioeconomic status were put in the regression model. Results: Overall 28.6% of the study population (20.8% men and 7.7% women) was using tobacco on a daily basis. Among the tobacco users, the various modes by which tobacco was consumed included cigarette Smoking (45.6%), beedies (22.8%), Kutka (18.4%) and tobacco leaves (26.3%).Conclusion: The present study suggests that preventive message needs to be modified to make the tobacco control more effective.