Tobacco Use among Females in an Urban Community of Imphal West, Manipur

Abstract

Background: Tobacco use is a growing global public health problem. The adverse effects of tobacco use on health are well known. The objectives of this study was to determine the prevalence of tobacco use and to determine the association of tobacco use with selected variables like age, education, occupation, etc among females in an urban community. Methods: A cross sectional study using personal interviews was carried out on 307 individuals aged 18 years and above. Descriptive statistics and Chi –square test was used for analysis. Results: The prevalence of ever use of tobacco use was 58.6% and of which 97.2% were current users. Tobacco was used predominantly in smokeless form (zarda pan, khaini, gutkha) by 85.6% of the users. Only smoked tobacco was used by 4.4% of the users. The commonest influencing factor for tobacco use was peer pressure. Conclusion: Prevalence of tobacco use in this community was high. There is a need to develop effective health education and multifactorial tobacco quitting strategies with focus on help and support for those who wish to quit tobacco.