Prevalence, duration of exposure and predicting factors for snus use among young Finnish men: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: The health hazards of tobacco products depend on the level of exposure, but little is known about the characteristics of snus use. The aim of this study was to investigate the duration of daily exposure to snus among occasional and daily users and its associated predictive factors among young Finnish men. DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire study. SETTING: Three out of 16 Finnish Defence Forces units. PARTICIPANTS: 1280 young Finnish male conscripts starting their military service in 2016 chosen by simple random sampling. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY MEASURES: The prevalence, duration of use and the amount of daily usage of snus and cigarettes were investigated. The attitudes towards perceived harmfulness of snus and the predictive factors affecting the total time of snus consumption were examined. RESULTS: Almost a fifth (19.5%) of the conscripts reported daily snus use, and a further 16% reported occasional use. Daily snus use was associated with an earlier starting age, longer duration of use and higher daily exposure time compared with occasional use. On average, daily snus users consumed 10 portions and occasional users three portions per day (p<0.001). The daily total exposure time for daily users was 372 min (95% CI 344 to 401) and for occasional users 139 min (95% CI 106 to 171). Respondents with an upper secondary education had significantly less daily total exposure than those with basic comprehensive education (p=0.036). Perceptions of snus as a harmful substance resulted in a significantly lower duration of exposure. CONCLUSION: Snus use was very common among young Finnish men. High snus exposure duration was associated with an earlier starting age, a longer history of use and a careless attitude to its health hazards. A higher education level was a protective factor for total exposure time. Studies of the long-term health effects and dependency profile of snus use are needed.