A substantive review on tobacco use among school-going adolescents in India

Abstract

Tobacco use among the adolescents in india is believed to be on an increase. Therefore, a systematic review was carried out to summarize these studies. Several electronic databases were searched, supplemented by screening reference lists, smoking-related websites, and contacting experts. Selection, extraction, and quality assessments were carried out by one or two independent reviewers. The focus was on studies conducted on the school-going children in india and discussed in a global perspective. A narrative review was carried out. Many of the studies lacked sufficient power to estimate precise risks associated with the study subjects, as it mainly involved questionnaire studies. Studies were often designed to investigate tobacco use, but many had major methodological limitations including poor control and imprecise measurements of exposure. Studies in india showed a high risk of major health-related illness and several forms of cancers such as oro-pharyngeal cancers associated with the chewing form of tobacco. Studies from other regions and of other cancer types were not consistent. Tobacco use is increasing among the adolescents and has become an persistent issue that is usually carried over to their adulthood. In india, there is a stringent need for awareness creating oral health education programs in the school and college premises.