Abstract
BackgroundThere is paucity of data on the smoking habits of rural populations in developing countries. This study aimed to explore cigarette smoking practices of a rural community in Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 548 individuals from a random sample of households in a rural town and its surrounding rural districts. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were performed.ResultsTwenty-eight percent (95% CI: 24.3% - 31.6%) of the respondents were current smokers. A total of 105 (68%) smokers expressed an interest to quit while 37 (34%) had tried to quit previously but without success. There was high exposure to second-hand smoke: 285 (52%) homes allowed indoor smoking, and in 181 (33%) indoor smoking took place daily. Current smoking was strongly associated with male sex (OR = 83.0; 95% CI: 11.5 – 599.0), and being a student was found to be protective of smoking (OR = 0.04; 95% CI: 0.005 – 0.05).ConclusionCigarette smoking is prevalent among the male rural town population in Ethiopia. In addition, a high level of exposure to indoor second-hand smoke exists. There is a need for investment in rural tobacco control, including educational campaigns and cost-effective smoking cessation services.
Highlights
Tobacco use is one of the major preventable causes of premature death and disease in the world [1]
The mean (SD) number of cigarettes smoked per week by smokers was 47.2 (51.4), showing a significant variation from 1 to 168 cigarettes
This amounts to an average of 6.7 cigarettes smoked per day
Summary
Tobacco use is one of the major preventable causes of premature death and disease in the world [1]. Tobacco use is increasing worldwide because of increased consumption in low-income countries [2,3,4]. The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes approximately 5 million deaths a year to tobacco. This number is expected to exceed 10 million deaths by 2020, with approximately 70% of these deaths occurring in developing countries [5]. Tobacco related deaths currently rank 2nd and 7th in middle-income and low-income countries respectively [6]. There is paucity of data on the smoking habits of rural populations in developing countries. This study aimed to explore cigarette smoking practices of a rural community in Ethiopia
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