Prevalence of usage of Tobacco and its various correlates in District Gautam-Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh

CONTEXT: Tobacco use is the leading single preventable cause of deaths worldwide. India is the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world. AIMS: To study the prevalence of tobacco use among the adult population >15 years age of District Gautam-Budh Nagar and find the association of various socio-demographic factors with the tobacco usage. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional community-based study conducted in urban and rural areas of District Gautam-Budh Nagar, Uttar-Pradesh. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted among 1461 adults aged 15 years and above in the District Gautam-Budh Nagar. Multistage sampling was used to select the study subjects. The questionnaire used for the interview consisted of questions related to socio-demographic profile, smoking habits and smokeless tobacco use, intention to quit and exposure to second-hand smoke. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data were entered and analyzed in SPSS Software version 20.0. The prevalence of tobacco use was expressed in percentages. The association between various socio-demographic factors and tobacco use was assessed by Chi-square test. P value < 0.05 was taken as significant. RESULTS: Prevalence of tobacco usage in this study was found to be 50.4% (65% among males and 28.8% among females). The prevalence of smoking and smokeless tobacco use in our study was 37.2% and 21.3%, respectively. Increasing age, male gender, and lower educational status were found to be significant risk factors for tobacco use in our study. CONCLUSIONS: India needs to gear up the efforts more and can still do more to make the proven tobacco control tools work for its citizens’ well-being.