Study on prevalence and sociocultural aspects of tobacco use in India

AIM: The present study focuses on the prevalence of tobacco use and aims to determine various sociocultural aspects of tobacco use in Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study sample comprised 384 participants. There were three study groups, and in each study group, there were 128 participants. Group A was tobacco users without oral precancer, Group B was tobacco users with oral precancer, and Group C was healthy individuals with no history of tobacco or areca nut use and oral precancer. Both male and female adults in the age group of 18 years and above visiting the Outpatient Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at King George's Medical University were recruited for the study. The study participants were explained in detail about the study, and informed consent was obtained through them. Data have been collected using a standard structured predesigned questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of the details of the demographic profile of the study participants, details of tobacco use, and the major social and cultural reasons which motivated them to consume tobacco. Data were extracted from the case sheet, and the data were entered into a worksheet for the purpose of analysis. The analysis was performed using the commercially available Statistical Package SPSS. CONCLUSION: The rate of tobacco prevalence is very high among the Indian population, and a number of social and cultural factors are responsible for its use. To curb this problem, more studies could be done to find the causes responsible for its use.