Prevalence and Pattern of Tobacco Use among Thermal Power Station Workers in South India: An Observational Study

INTRODUCTION: Health of individuals and community. Occupation, being a significant determinant of health, plays a vital role in the outcome of health. Mining being an occupation has it's own characteristics and occupational hazards. One such factor, being tobacco consumption has been sparsely reported among thermal power station workers. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of tobacco consumption among thermal power station workers in south India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Simple random sampling was used to collect data from the study in the subjects working in thermal power station. Pretested questionnaire was used to collect demographic and prevalence data pertaining to tobacco consumption. Descriptive statistical analysis was done for the data to express the same in frequencies. RESULTS: Among the 401 study subjects, 121 of them consumed tobacco. Among them 59%(n=72) of them used smoking form of tobacco and about 23%(n=28) of them used smokeless form of tobacco. Vast majority73%(n=52) of the smokers used cigarette and 14%(n=19) used bidi. CONCLUSION: A significant number of workers in thermal power station were found to use tobacco. Further studies are required to be conducted on a larger scale followed by analytical studies to establish the strength of association between the occupation related variables and tobacco consumption.